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US-IRAN-DIPLOMACY-NUCLEAR-SANCTION
US renews waivers for Iran civil nuclear projects
WASHINGTON, Aug 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The United States said Wednesday it was
extending waivers for three civilian nuclear projects in Iran, despite
Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement.
“This is a short 90 day extension,” said White House National Security
Advisor John Bolton, a champion of the hawkish policy towards Tehran.
“We are watching those nuclear activities very, very closely, they remain
under daily scrutiny,” he told Fox Business.
The projects include the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Arak heavy water
reactor, which has been modified under the supervision of the international
community to render it impossible to produce plutonium for military use, and
the Fordow fuel enrichment plant.
The State Department downplayed the move, as it did when it last granted an
extension in May, describing the waivers as “continued restrictions on the
Iranian regime’s nuclear program”.
“The action today will help preserve oversight of Iran’s civil nuclear
program, reduce proliferation risks, constrain Iran’s ability to shorten its
‘breakout time’ to a nuclear weapon, and prevent the regime from
reconstituting sites for proliferation-sensitive purposes,” Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo’s spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
In reality, the move extends exemptions for the three Iranian civil nuclear
projects, the State Department confirmed to AFP.
There was debate in President Donald Trump’s administration about these
exemptions, with hawks saying that after Washington’s withdrawal from the
Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it would have been logical to stop them in order
to further increase the pressure on Tehran.
But the more moderate line has prevailed for the moment, so as not to upset
the other signatories to the 2015 deal — China, Russia, Germany, France and
Britain — amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
The 2015 agreement promised that world powers would assist Iran in
developing civilian nuclear energy — the clerical regime’s stated goal for
its atomic program.
The waiver announcement came as Washington imposed sanctions Wednesday on
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1327 hrs