I have written several blogs about the stuggle of permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have had trying to make a deal with Iran about its nuclear program. Sunday, Iran signed a six months deal with the U.N. after intense negotiations in Geneva.
Iran has agreed to limit uranium enrichment to the three and one half percent necessary for creating nuclear fuels for nuclear power reactors. They have agreed not to purchase any more enrichment centrifuges. The current Iranian stockpile of uranium enriched to twenty percent must be mixed with natural uranium to dilute it to three and one half percent so it can be used as nuclear fuel. Iran has also agreed to halt work on the new reactor at Arak that could eventually produce plutonium. Although Iran claims that the Arak reactor will be used to produce isotopes of medical use, the U.N. fears that Iran could use the facility to make nuclear weapons. All Iran nuclear facilites are to be open to daily inspections by the U.N.
In return, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agree to unfreeze eight billion dollars of Iranian oil revenues in their banks. They have also agreed that some trade sanctions will be lifted and there will be no addional trade sanctions imposed on Iran during the six month duration of the deal. The U.N. members believe that this deal will lead to a permanent deal that would insure that Iran never develops nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Congress will have to ratify the agreement with Iran and there is sure to be a heated debate. Critics of the deal in the U.S. Congress say that these measures are not sufficient to stop Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Some Congressmen are even suggesting harsher sanctions to force Iran to end its nuclear program completely.
The Israelian Prime Minister says that this deal is a big mistake. He is afraid that Iran is not sincere and that they will continue enhancing uranium for the production of nuclear weapons. Israel wanted to see all of Iranian the centrifuges destroyed. Representatives of the Israeli government are angry that they were not included in the final negotiations. Israel feels threatened by Iran and has vowed to do what ever it takes to insure that Iran never manufactures nuclear weapons. This includes the possibilty of a unilateral Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Saudi Arabia has also criticised the deal with the Iranians. They also complain that they were not included in the final negotiations. They are enemies of the Iranian regime and they feel that the failure of the United States to intervene in the Syrian civial war and the intermim deal with the Iranians indicated that the U.S. can no longer be viewed as a strong ally. They have recently announced that they intend to "go it alone" in formulating their future foreign policy.
Supporters of the Iranian deal hope that it will lead to the signing of a permanent deal in the near future. Allowing Iran to return to the international trading community would have a positive impact on Middle Eastern economic activity.
