Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
Iranian officials and above all, the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have repeatedly demanded the elimination of all sanctions imposed on Iran on a day that the comprehensive nuclear deal is achieved.
It all sounds good, but how real is it?
Ignoring the western sanctions imposed on Iran for non-nuclear reasons, like supporting terrorism, money laundering, ballistic missiles, human right issues, etc, the most biting sanctions are those which are aimed to curb Iran's nuclear program, like targeting the country's banking system, oil export and banning Iran's financial entities.
Iran asks the elimination of these kind of sanctions simultaneously with achieving a comprehensive nuclear deal, expected to be reached by June 30.
State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Apr.10 that Sanctions on Iran will be lifted only in stages.
Behrooz Bayat, a former consultant at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Trend Apr.10 that the elimination of sanctions is viable in very short term, even simultaneously with the comprehensive nuclear deal, but it depends mostly on political issues rather than technical matters.
According to a fact sheet released by the Washington, the U.S. and E.U. nuclear-related sanctions over Iran will be suspended after the IAEA has verified that Iran has taken all of its key nuclear-related steps. If at any time Iran fails to fulfill its commitments, these sanctions will snap back into place.
However, Olli Heinonen, the former Deputy Director-General for Safeguards at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Trend Jan. 6 that the verification will take years; perhaps 3-5 years depending on the cooperation provided by Iran, and the findings by the IAEA.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials want the elimination of sanctions, not their suspension.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Apr.9 that the sanctions should be removed simultaneously with achieving a comprehensive nuke deal.
At the same time, the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi also said on April 9 that only two kinds of sanctions may be removed gradually: those which ban selling nuclear materials, equipment to Iran and exporting any dual-use technology which can be used in military sphere.
Bayat said that the main issue in verification of the nuclear program is accepting the Additional Protocol by Iran, which allows IAEA to conduct undeclared inspection of the nuclear facilities and provide greater oversight on them.
"One of the most critical questions posed by IAEA is the probability of high exposition tests at the Parchin military base. IAEA has, so far, visited Parchin twice, in 2005. However, in case Iran allows the UN body to visit it again, the verification of non-nuclear activities there can be proved in one to three months. The other question is the alleged computer simulations for a nuclear weapon in Iran, but it seems this is a political-motivated accusation rather than a serious concern based on documented evidences," Bayat said.
He also said that the West doesn't seem to want the elimination of sanctions in one stage due to political reasons, it's influence in region, supporting some groups, etc.
Bayat also said that verification of Iran's complete nuclear activities, including the probable undeclared nuclear facilities might take time, but nobody can put a needed certain time or framework for that.
"Therefore, with ignoring the political-motivated issues, there is no reason to keep sanctions over Iran mid or long term," he said.
After implementation of Additional Protocol by Iran, the sanctions can be removed, unless IAEA confirms that Iran doesn't fulfill its commitments based on the comprehensive nuclear deal," Iranian origin nuclear export Bayat said.