Donald Trump and Iran Nuclear deal -A Nuclear Tussle

 

 

 

Recently US President Donald Trump denied certifying and further threatened to terminate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if Congress and US allies fail to amend the agreement in very significant terms.Trump announced he would not continue to certify the agreement to Congress, but stopped short of immediately cancelling US participation in the deal.Trumps want to call on a permanent ban on Iran`s Nuclear Program that would deter Iran from becoming a Nuclear state till judgement day.Experts say that it is under the influence of the Israel lobby that Trump wants to further harden the terms of the deal.On the other hand, Iran is adamant to renegotiate the deal`s terms under any terms.Trump made clear that if those negotiations fail to reach a solution – which is almost certain – he would unilaterally pull the US out of the international agreement, a move likely to lead to a return to nuclear confrontation in the Middle East.

US allies’  leaders of the UK, France and Germany – also signatories of the nuclear deal – issued a statement vowing their commitment to the agreement.The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, insisted that the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was working and that no single country or leader could terminate it. For further details on the development visit this link.

 

Here are some of the key details, facts and analysis of the Iran Nuclear deal to make it easy for you to understand.

 

What is the significance of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)?

• The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran on 14 July 2015 between Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council Germany and the European Union.

 

 

Key details of the ” Deal”.

Iran’s uranium stockpile is set to be reduced by 98% to 300kg (660lbs) for 15 years. It must also keep its level of enrichment at 3.67%..By January 2016, Iran had drastically reduced the number of centrifuges installed at Natanz and Fordo, and shipped tonnes of low-enriched uranium to Russia.

According to the BBC, Iran had built a heavy-water nuclear facility near the town of Arak. Spent fuel from a heavy-water reactor has plutonium suitable for a nuclear bomb.World powers had originally wanted Arak dismantled because of the proliferation risk. Under an interim nuclear deal agreed in November 2013, Iran agreed not to commission or fuel the reactor.Instead, it agreed to redesign the reactor so it cannot produce any weapons-grade plutonium. All spent fuel will be sent out of the country as long as the modified reactor exists.Most of the 20 tonnes of heavy water the Arak facility was expected to produce will be shipped to the US via a third country, according to Iranian officials. About 6 tonnes will be retained to make medical isotopes.

Further, Inspectors from the IAEA, the global nuclear watchdog, will continuously monitor Iran’s declared nuclear sites and also verify that no fissile material is moved covertly to a secret location to build a bomb.The agreement increases the “breakout” time — the amount of time it would take Iran to produce enough bomb-grade material for a singular nuclear weapon — to at least one year.

 

 

What are the Major provisions of the agreement?

 

• Under the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium,
• Cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%
• Reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years.
• For the next 15 years, Iran will only enrich uranium up to 3.67%.
• To monitor and verify Iran’s compliance with the agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have regular access to all Iranian nuclear facilities.

 

Courtesy -VOX Media

 

How will the deal benefit Iran?

 

• After the implementation by Iran of the nuclear-related measures, the UN sanctions against Iran and some EU sanctions will terminate and some will be suspended.
• Once sanctions are lifted, Iran will recover approximately $100 billion of its assets frozen in overseas banks
• EU sanctions against a number of Iranian companies, individuals and will be lifted.

 

 

What is IAEA?

 

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
• It is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field.
• It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
• The programs of the IAEA encourage the development of the peaceful applications of nuclear technology, provide international safeguards against misuse of nuclear technology and nuclear materials, and promote nuclear safety.

 

 

Why were the sanctions imposed?

 

• Iran signed the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1968 as a non-nuclear weapons state and ratified the NPT in 1970.
• In August 2002, the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian dissident group, publicly revealed the existence of two undeclared nuclear facilities,
• the Arak heavy-water production facility
• the Natanz enrichment facility.
• The IAEA report the following month concluded that Iran had failed to meet its obligations under the previous agreement.
• In September 2009, U.S. President revealed the existence of an underground enrichment facility at Fordow, near Qom
• The decision to build nuclear facility without notifying the IAEA represents a direct challenge to the basic compact at the centre of the non-proliferation regime
• On 24 November 2013, the Joint Plan of Action, an interim agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, was signed between Iran and the P5+1 countries in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

 

What may be the implications of this decision?

 

• The implications of the breakdown are not limited to U.S.-Iran relations.
• Iran can make things difficult for the U.S. in Afghanistan as also in Iraq and Syria.
• The U.S.’s ability to work with Russia in Syria or with China regarding North Korea will also be impacted.
• Coming after the rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris climate change accord and the North American Free Trade Agreement, this decision further diminishes its credibility in managing its foreign policy
• Trumps decision to discredit JCPOA shall implicit renegotiation of the deal, that would attract a veto by both Russia and China were it to be taken up in the UNSC.

 

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