BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 24. A temporary agreement between the parties in the discussions on Iran's nuclear program is not an appropriate option for Iran - a number of Iranian media outlets believe, Trend reports.
As an alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program, the possibility of a temporary agreement between Iran and the US has become stronger. But Iranian officials have denied the possibility of a temporary agreement on the nuclear program, and the US and European countries have not made a transparent statement about it. However, some media outlets are promoting a temporary agreement as an alternative to the JCPOA.
Iranian media reports that within the framework of the temporary agreement, it is proposed to unblock Iran's frozen assets in abroad and to receive a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and in exchange for Iran to stop high-level enrichment of uranium.
It is clear that this new business agenda is completely contrary to the JCPOA and will undoubtedly cause new damage to Iran's national interests. The reason is because the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, western countries did not take any steps to compensate for the damages caused to Iran as a result of sanctions, and after all this, Iran has developed in the field of enrichment and is currently in ideal conditions for uranium enrichment from a technical point of view, the media reports said.
Recently, indirect discussions between Iran and the US and between Iran and 3 European countries (the UK, France and Germany) have been held.
In the discussions, Iran is mainly trying to achieve the abolition of sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, the removal of its funds frozen in foreign countries, and the abolition of the restriction on the export of crude oil. In return, the US and Western countries want Iran not to acquire an atomic bomb, to keep its nuclear program under control, and to reduce the level of uranium enrichment.
Iran discloses various programs related to its nuclear industry to reflect that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, according to the information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has increased the amount of highly enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months, and currently, the country's enriched uranium reserves are 4,745 kilograms. This is 15 times more than the amount of uranium allowed for Iran in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.
On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.
Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5. On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.
On May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany), and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.
Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
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