But the IAEA inspectors first must verify Iran is living up to its commitments.
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One such step involves making changes to the core of a heavy water reactor at its Arak nuclear site to ensure it can not be used to make atomic weapons. That involves exchanging the core and other major modifications.
Iranian officials also affirmed that the core of the reactor was taken out.
“About an hour age, our job was finished”, he said.
A report by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) certifying that Iran has met all its obligations under the deal, known as the JCPOA, is a crucial precondition for sanctions reliefto kick in.
Regarding the other main type of nuclear fuel, uranium, Kerry says “all of their enriched materials have been put on a ship, taken out and gone to Russian Federation for processing”. It also had to redesign Arak, rendering it incapable from producing weapons-grade plutonium under normal operation.
Kerry sent a widely publicized letter to Zarif, suggesting that the new restrictions wouldn’t impede the nuclear deal amid suggestions from Tehran that they would constitute a violation of the agreement.
A senior Iranian source close to supply negotiations said that the country – which has the world’s fourth-biggest proven oil reserves – was targeting India as its main destination for crude. Officials had spoken of lingering questions related to Iran’s uranium and plutonium programmes, including over the properties of certain centrifuges Iran would be permitted to maintain for research purposes.
Iran has insisted it needs the Arak heavy water reactor for production of medical isotopes. The deal traded the lifting of sanctions for Iran’s ability to reach the capability to build a bomb.
The detention and subsequent release the following day of the sailors in the waters of the Persian Gulf served to show how much has changed following the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers last summer. And just as the controversial nuclear deal was about to bear fruit for Iran, the Supreme Leader could hardly risk undoing it. Shaheed has been a critic of the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran under the purportedly moderate President Hassan Rouhani.
In Washington, Secretary of State John Kerry said implementation day, when sanctions relief will begin under the deal, would take place “very soon, likely within the next coming days somewhere”.
“The oil supply glut in juxtaposition with the lessening demand is wholly more hard to contain and with Iran set further to increase volumes following the lift of sanctions, the trend remains to the downside”, said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group, in a note. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
The announcement by Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, reported by state TV, comes days after he said the reactor would be disabled this week.
Iran does have light crudes, but needs them for itself to reduce gasoline imports. In its statement, the Guard added that the “illegal entry into Iranian water was not the result of a purposeful act”. Kerry made it clear that the most important issue was getting the Americans released, unharmed – turning this into “a good story for both of us”, Kerry told Zarif, according to the briefer.
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That list includes almost a dozen defense companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates that allegedly have supported Iran’s missile program.
