France Voices Doubt on Iran Nuclear Deal
Foreign Minister Fabius Concerned Tehran Won't Drop Ability to Build a Bomb
PARIS—France's foreign minister voiced doubts that Western powers will reach a final nuclear deal with Iran, questioning Tehran's willingness to abandon its ability to build an atomic bomb.
Laurent Fabius has propelled France to the forefront of nuclear talks by taking a tough stance on Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian and scientific use only.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
To reach a lasting agreement, Western powers are pressing Tehran to adopt measures that unwind its nuclear capabilities to the point that a weapon is no longer within reach.
That goal has been partly overshadowed by disagreements over how to implement a preliminary accord that temporarily freezes Iran's nuclear program in exchange for limited relief from biting sanctions.
"We have to implement honestly the first phase," Mr. Fabius said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"Then my main concern is the second phase. It is unclear if the Iranians will accept to definitively abandon any capacity of getting a weapon or only agree to interrupt the nuclear program."
Mr. Fabius played a central role in toughening terms of the first deal with Iran.
His warning that world powers risked being drawn into a "fool's game" by Iran nearly derailed the talks in November.
Mr. Fabius said Western powers need to focus their efforts on how to deprive Iran of "breakout capacity," the ability to restart a bomb-making program from dormant nuclear sites and make a quick dash to a weapon before world powers can react.
"What is at stake is to ensure that there is no breakout capacity," Mr. Fabius said.
His remarks, at this pivotal stage in international negotiations, reflect the challenges in securing a final deal with Iran.
Some U.S. officials have also grown skeptical in the weeks since Secretary of State John Kerry helped strike the preliminary deal with Iran in Geneva.
President Barack Obama said recently that he didn't think the likelihood of a long term deal was "more than 50-50."
Nonetheless, U.S. officials have left little doubt they are eager to find a way to reach a final deal with Iran and international powers, saying that without one, Iran would lurch even closer to a break-out capability and bring the region nearer to war.
"Not even trying for a deal, I think, would be a dire mistake," Mr. Obama said Dec. 7 in Washington.
Tehran has long defended what it says is its right to enrich uranium and to build nuclear reactors. Western nations say those capabilities clear the way for Iran to produce fuel for an atomic bomb.
On Nov. 24, Iran reached the interim agreement with the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany, a diplomatic bloc known as the P5+1. The accord relaxes economic sanctions on Iran in return for freezing its nuclear activities.
Those measures were intended to build confidence between the parties while they pursue a final agreement.
Since then, however, Iran and Western powers have been at loggerheads over how to implement the accord.
Iran lashed out at the U.S. last week for adding companies and individuals to its sanctions blacklist, a move Washington said complied with the interim agreement.
Much of the impasse stems from disagreements over which side—Iran or the West—should take the first steps.
"One of the biggest questions of this accord is when and how it will be implemented," said Behzad Azarsa, an economic adviser at Iran's Embassy in France.
He said he expected these issues and other related matters to be cleared up in coming meetings.
Last week, Iran protested the additions to the U.S. blacklist by suspending talks aimed at resolving differences over how to implement the interim accord. Those negotiations are expected to resume on Thursday, according to the European Union.
Under the preliminary deal, the EU and U.S. agreed to ease some sanctions on Iran's petrochemicals sector and scrapped a ban on trade in precious metals. The U.S. agreed to unfreeze some $4.2 billion in Iranian oil revenue held abroad. The EU agreed to ease financial transfers to Iran for permitted trade.
Mr. Fabius said France and other EU countries won't begin to relax sanctions until the International Atomic Energy Agency has inspected Iranian nuclear sites to verify Tehran has suspended the program.
Under the accord, inspectors are authorized to make daily rounds at the facilities, but those checks have yet to begin, according to Western and Iranian officials.
"The inspections must technically start before we lift," said Mr. Fabius. The early scrutiny ensures Tehran upholds its end of the deal as sanctions are eased and the talks advance, Western officials said.
Mr. Fabius said he was working toward a final agreement that is tougher, tightening inspections and reining in Iran's stockpile of uranium and its ability to process new fuel.
France is a longtime skeptic of Tehran's nuclear program. A decade ago, France helped negotiate a deal with Iran to halt its nuclear program only to see Tehran back out of the agreement years later.
"What we have to do is act in such a way that cheating is in practice impossible," Mr. Fabius said.
Corrections & Amplifications
Iran is in nuclear talks with a group comprising the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany. An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested six Western powers were involved in the talks.
Iran is in nuclear talks with a group comprising the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany. An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested six Western powers were involved in the talks.
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that Tehran can end suspension of its 20-percent nuclear enrichment in one day if the opposite party to the Geneva deal defies its undertakings.
“The structure of our nuclear program has been maintained and the 20% enrichment can be resumed in less than 24 hours,” Zarif said, addressing the Iranian students in Tehran on Wednesday.
After more than four days of intense negotiations, Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members -- the US, Britain, Russia, France and China -- plus Germany, inked an interim deal in Geneva on November 24. It aims to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program.
Assessing the interim Geneva deal, Zarif underlined that there is a possibility for finding a final and everlasting solution to the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West.
He also repeated his earlier remarks that "the structure of the sanctions and the antagonistic atmosphere created by the West against Iran is falling apart".
In relevant remarks after the Geneva deal late November, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi underlined that Iran has accepted to stop its 20-percent grade enrichment for a period of six months in a voluntary move to build the opposite parties' confidence.
Salehi pointed to the Geneva agreement, and said, “We will not stop any of our nuclear activities, but we will only voluntarily limit the level of our enrichment for a six-month period until comprehensive negotiations are held and a relevant decision is made for enrichment above the 5-percent grade.”
The AEOI chief stressed that Iran will continue its nuclear activities at Natanz and Fordo enrichment facilities and in Arak heavy water reactor and will also continue all its exploration, research and development projects according to the deal, reiterating that none of Iran's nuclear activities would be brought to a halt.
Also, after endorsing the agreement with the world powers, Zarif underlined that the G5+1 has recognized Iran’s enrichment program.
He pointed to the agreement reached between Iran and the G5+1, and said, “Today’s agreement deals with several sectors, the most important of which is that Iran’s enrichment program has been recognized, and this program will continue.”
Zarif underlined that the Iranian nation wants the opposite side to show respect for its rights, and said, “We need to remove the historical lack of confidence and the West should also be able to win the Iranian nation’s confidence.”
Zarif called on the West to discard its catch-phrase “the military option is on the table”, and said, “The right to own nuclear energy is among the rights of all countries and the international rules approve of this right. Governments cannot threaten other countries only on the basis of their own decisions."
"Iran is entitled to make use of its rights, and other countries should not threaten it because of its pursuit of its rights.”
He reiterated that other countries should avoid threatening Iran only because is demanding its rights, and said, “We respect our rights and the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) members should know that they should not exert pressure on Iran and this agreement that has just been signed mentions that Iran is fully entitled to the right of enrichment right and it will never quit its rights in the future.”
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