Brussels, 20/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 20 February, Iran and the major powers took a new step towards the definitive settlement of the dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme, with their agreement on a “framework” for future negotiations, which are likely to be long and arduous.
“Much remains to be done. It will not be easy, but we have made a good start”, said High Representative of the EU Catherine Ashton after the three-day meeting in Vienna between representatives of the 5+1 group (United States, China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany) and Iran. The next meeting is scheduled for 17 March in the Austrian capital.
“We have had three very productive days during which we have identified all of the issues we need to address in reaching a comprehensive and final agreement”, Ashton said in a declaration to the press, accompanied by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. In Vienna, the negotiators set “a timetable of meetings initially over the next four months with a framework to continue our deliberations”. The technical experts will meet in early March, Ashton added.
Israel and the West suspect that Iran plans to adopt atomic weapons under the cover of its civil nuclear programme, which Tehran steadfastly denies.
On 24 November of last year, Iran concluded an action plan over six months with the major powers, which has been applied since 20 January. The plan provides for certain sensitive nuclear activities to be put on hold in exchange for the lifting of a small number of the sanctions which have its economy in a stranglehold. It is now the delicate task of the negotiators to transform it - by 20 July - into a comprehensive agreement guaranteeing, without the shadow of a doubt, the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme.
Zarif announced on his Facebook page that he had agreed with Ashton to “hold several meetings at our level on a monthly basis between now and (the start of) the month of khordad”, which begins on 22 May. Between now and the forthcoming meeting on 17 March, the head of European diplomacy will visit Tehran, he stated.
The stakes are high. A comprehensive agreement would allow international relations between Iran and the United States to be normalised, following a break of 35 years, and would subsequently remove the military option which is frequently raised by Israel and the United States. Experts and diplomats believe that it is unlikely that an agreement can be concluded in the space of six months, but the period could be extended to a year from the date of signature of the action plan in November, by mutual agreement.
If it hopes to get all international sanctions lifted, the Iranian government will probably have to close down its enrichment site at Fordo, reduce the number of its centrifuges (around 19,000 at the moment) which are used to enrich uranium, and definitively abandon its heavy-water reactor project at Arak, which can be used to make plutonium which can be used to develop bombs, experts believe. Together with more frequent inspections by the IAEA, these measures would considerably impact upon Iran's capacity to build up a nuclear arsenal. (LC/transl.fl)