January 9, 2014 | Quoted by Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post

Obama Iran Gambit is Unraveling

Some “snag.” That is how a Reuters headline characterizes its report that there is an impasse in talks with Iran over the implementation agreement for an interim deal:

Negotiations between Iran and six world powers on implementing a landmark November deal to freeze parts of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing some sanctions have run into problems over advanced centrifuge research, diplomats said.

The dispute over centrifuges highlighted the huge challenges facing Iran and the six powers in negotiating the precise terms of the November 24 interim agreement. If they succeed, they plan to start talks on a long-term deal to resolve a more than decade-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The centrifuge issue is no small matter. Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, has been closely involved in sanctions development and implementation. He tells me, “Permitting Iran to conduct research and development on advanced centrifuges is a dangerous proposition and fundamentally at odds with a peaceful civilian nuclear program. The verification of Iran’s current centrifuge production capabilities is already sufficiently challenging without opening the door to Iranian development of even smaller and more efficient centrifuges that are easier to hide.” He adds, “This is further proof — as if more evidence is needed — that Iran is building an industrial-size nuclear infrastructure that will give it multiple overt and covert pathways to a bomb.”

Read the full article here.

Issues:

Iran Iran Sanctions