Hundreds turned out for a protest in Los Angeles against the Iran nuclear deal, July 26, 2015.
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Critics of the Iran deal at the time of its signing pointed out that the terms of the deal would allow for Iran to resume its nuclear program after a decade.
The U.S. State Department denied that a “secret document” in the Iran nuclear deal will enable the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons in just over 10 years. 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. It was given to the AP by a diplomat whose work has focused on Iran’s nuclear program for more than a decade, and its authenticity was confirmed by another diplomat who possesses the same document. 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.
“In the [meeting of the] JCPOA commission, a demand was raised that the U.S. clarify [the means for] the facilitation of banking ties with Iran”, Araqchi said.
Presenting the Secretary-General’s first report on implementation of the resolution, Mr. Feltman today told the Council that since 16 January of this year, the Secretary-General “has not received any report, nor is he aware of any open source information, regarding the supply, sale, transfer or export to Iran of nuclear-related items undertaken contrary to the provisions of the JCPOA”.
“We’ll be ready, as a possible option, to continue such work on enriched uranium in the future, if Iran requests”, he said. “As for breakout times after the initial 10 years of the deal, the breakout time does not go off a cliff nor do we believe that it would be immediately cut in half, to six months”.
“Once the document is entirely released, it will be clear where we will be standing within 15 years”, the minister noted.
He says it was created by Iran’s “negotiators and experts”.
Marking the agreement’s anniversary Thursday, President Barack Obama said it has succeeded in rolling back Iran’s nuclear program, “avoiding further conflict and making us safer”.
Zarif also claimed that divine intervention had preserved Iran’s stability in a volatile Middle East: “It is because we have understood the basics of power and the most powerful power in the world is God”.
Power said “while some have argued that to be balanced, the report should give Iran a chance to express complaints about sanctions relief under the deal”, the Security Council did not mandate Ban to report on such issues.
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It also approved a measure that calls for prohibiting the Obama administration from buying more of Iran’s heavy water, a key component in certain nuclear reactors.
