The news [last Monday] that Iran had agreed in principle … to send 1200 kg of its low enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey has been greeted skeptically by the European Union, the United States, and others concerned that this declaration is merely an attempt to delay the imposition of UN Security Council sanctions. … [W]hile clarifications should be sought, this declaration provides no reason to stop negotiating in the Security Council the imposition of sanctions on Iran. …
It is important to recall that the original purpose of this agreement, initially proposed in October 2009, was as a confidence building measure. … Such an exchange of LEU today, however, would take place today under very different circumstances. Iran has continued to enrich uranium in the intervening seven months. Iran has also begun its own effort at the Natanz Pilot Enrichment Plant, … announced plans to deploy a more advanced centrifuge, and start building two more centrifuge plants without notifying the IAEA until late in the construction process. Additional outstanding issues with the IAEA also remain. …
An agreement to remove most of Iran’s accumulated LEU to a third country in exchange for fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor could be a positive, welcome development. It should be negotiated, however, in a way consistent with existing UN Security Council resolutions. Access the full report>>
