Operations at Arak IR-40 heavy water reactor will continue, said Iran’s deputy foreign minister and senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi, discussing one of the thorniest issues during the negotiations with world powers.
“Arak heavy water reactor will continue its work,” Araqchi told reporters in Vienna on Tuesday night. Araqchi said the issue of Arak IR-40 will be discussed in Wednesday’s meeting. (Fars News Agency, 19 March)
Araqchi did not say if Iran was willing to make changes in Arak’s design, as previously suggested by Ali Akbar Salehi, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The P5+1 would apparently push for such change, which could include converting the IR-40 into a light water reactor. As it is designed now, the reactor would produce significant amount of plutonium that could be used for nuclear weapons.
Araqchi did not say if Iran was willing to make changes in Arak’s design, as previously suggested by Ali Akbar Salehi, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The P5+1 would apparently push for such change, which could include converting the IR-40 into a light water reactor. As it is designed now, the reactor would produce significant amount of plutonium that could be used for nuclear weapons.
Arak's construction has not been completed yet, and construction activities are suspended for six months as part of Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), an interim agreement between Iran and P5+1.
UPDATE: Bloomberg's Indira Lakshmanan just tweeted from Vienna that the French negotiator at the talks told her that today's discussions were constructive, and a final deal before 20 July (JPOA's expiration date) may be possible. She has also twitted that according to the German negotiator, Iran and P5+1 have discussed Arak, enrichment, and other issues, trying to reach a deal by July. (Twitter/@Indira_L, 19 March)
UPDATE: Bloomberg's Indira Lakshmanan just tweeted from Vienna that the French negotiator at the talks told her that today's discussions were constructive, and a final deal before 20 July (JPOA's expiration date) may be possible. She has also twitted that according to the German negotiator, Iran and P5+1 have discussed Arak, enrichment, and other issues, trying to reach a deal by July. (Twitter/@Indira_L, 19 March)
File Photo: Arak IR-40 Reactor (IRNA)
8 comments:
Russian Diplomat Says Moscow Considering Changing Stance In Iran Talks
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-vice-president-biden-us-respond-aggression-nato-22965668
a heavy water reactor at Arak means MORE sanctions and MORE trouble for Iran
Russia is duplicitous and Iran should stick with its own agenda. The US under Zionist control will never do a deal with Iran anyway and mullahs are only seeking self-survival. This whole talks theater is waste of time and a sham as the future will show. The Zionists are again barking about attacking Iran.
I think eventually the West could get tired of this bullshit game playing and just do to Iran what it did to Iraq.
What, you mean attack Iran under the false claim of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" killing, wounding and displaciong millions of Iranians? I don't know if you have been paying attention but that is exactly what "the West" did to Iraq. Then again you'd probably like that, wouldn't you?
AnonymousMarch 20, 2014 at 7:50 AM
Theres no comparison between the iran of today and saddams iraq of 2003,iraq and afghanistan became quagmires for the occupying forces that they are still trying to extricate themselves from today,and unlike iraq and afghanistan iran can hit back hard against western interests in the m.e,the west has neither the money,the lives,the fire power or the political will to start yet another war in the middle east,had the west thought the military option was even slightly viable it would have attacked,instead it came to the negotiating table,that should tell you a lot
AnonymousMarch 21, 2014 at 4:48 AM
In a war with the US, Iran can NOT hit back hard. all it can do is send out is fire off some missiles that may or may not hit anything of importance to the US and then watch the US demolish any and every thing in Iran that the US wants demolished.
Iran has no reply but to send out saboteurs and have agents commit terror attacks against civilians.
you're dreaming if you think that Iran has any means of defending itself if it comes to a fight.
it's Iran that has been compelled to negotiate, not the West... and it's Iran whose economy has been severely disrupted by sanctions and which is isolated and scorned.
AnonymousMarch 22, 2014 at 1:32 AM
actually most of the us military infrastructure in the middle east is within range of irans short range weapons like the fateh 110,of which iran has conservatively an arsenal that numbers in the mid to high hundreds,for instance the 15,000 odd us personel in kuwait are within easy reach of iranian fire power,the same is true for the nato occupation forces in afghanistan,iran certainly doesnt need to resort to western style saboteurs or terror attacks in the event of war,and thats not even taking into account its ability to blockade the straits of hormuz and cut off 20+ percent of the worlds oil.If "it's Iran that has been compelled to negotiate" then why did the west drop its insistence that iran must halt all enrichment activities,this was always a constant demand of the us,yet it has agreed to sit down at the table and drop its preconditions,now why on earth would they do this if iran was as you put it "isolated and scorned",why do you think the us agreed to negotiate instead of just attack iran if the military option was a credible one.You seem to think iran is helpless and the us is invincible,both of these are far from the case
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