Hundreds turned out for a protest in Los Angeles against the Iran nuclear deal, July 26, 2015. The contents of the document were confirmed by a second diplomat in possession of the same part of the agreement, AP says.
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The document doesn’t say what happens with enrichment past year 13.
But while some of the constraints extend for 15 years, documents in the public domain are short on details of what happens with Iran’s most proliferation-prone nuclear activity – its uranium enrichment – beyond the first 10 years of the agreement. Analysts estimate that the use of advanced centrifuges, which are five times more efficient than the current centrifuges used by the country, will allow Iran to produce a nuclear weapon in less than a year.
Iran’s foreign minister on Tuesday defended a nuclear deal provision that allows Tehran to begin ramping up its nuclear program after 10 years, a day after the secret document was revealed, leading to concerns over the effectiveness of the landmark nuclear deal.
These were reportedly add-on agreements brokered after the deal was in place and kept secret from the public, according to the diplomat who shared the secret document with the global wire service.
“All media outlets say that Iran will rush toward industrial enrichment after ten years”, Zarif said.
According to the official, the deal removes certain restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program based not on changing its aggressive behavior – including worldwide support of terrorism – but rather according to certain dates on the calendar. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and many in the American Jewish community opposed the deal. But while formally separate from that accord, he said that it was in effect an integral part of the deal and had been approved by the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
Iran insists it is not interested in nuclear weapons, and the pact is being closely monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Cotton said he could not provide a response on a breaking news report, but said he would not be surprised to see those constraints removed in 10 years or see Iran violate the restrictions. Lawfully under the deal, Iran will be allowed to increase the size and efficiency of that program once restrictions on the number and model of uranium-enriching centrifuges are lifted.
