Reuters Report on “New JCPOA Draft Agreement”; Iran Denies

Reuters news agency published details from a nuclear agreement draft. Liberation of Western prisoners, enrichment limitations, and cash payments are the main points of this draft. Sanctions relief is in the final stage. Iran says Reuters has “distorted” the information.

Reuters, citing diplomats, writes that measures are planned in several phases. The first phase is Iran’s halt to uranium enrichment above 5 percent. Then Iran’s frozen assets will be unfrozen and Iran will release prisoners. The main phase of lifting Iran’s sanctions, including oil sanctions, will be the final stage.

It is said that a timeframe of one to three months from the agreement to full implementation has been considered.

Currently, negotiations between Iranian representatives and world powers—Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, and the European Union—are ongoing over the details of the agreement draft with the goal of returning Iran and America to the JCPOA.

This comes as Western countries warn about time limitations before the original JCPOA agreement loses its credibility.

Representatives involved in these negotiations say that the majority of the draft text has been drafted, but some sensitive issues remain unresolved.

The main issue of returning to the JCPOA agreement, which included lifting sanctions against Iran, including sanctions on Iran’s oil sales, and in return Iran would limit its nuclear activities, before time passes and Iran has enriched sufficient uranium to make a nuclear weapon.

Following the U.S. government’s withdrawal from the JCPOA during Donald Trump’s administration in 2018, Iran expanded its nuclear activities and raised the level of uranium enrichment from 3.67 percent in accordance with the JCPOA to 60 percent. According to experts, Iran could soon have sufficient enriched fissile uranium for nuclear weapons production.

This is while Iran continuously emphasizes that its nuclear activities and technology are for peaceful purposes. However, Western countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna say that no country engages in enrichment at this level of uranium unless it intends to produce nuclear weapons. Therefore, the expansion of uranium enrichment to this level since America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA means that all provisions of the JCPOA have lost their credibility.

The 20-page draft text

Reuters writes that the draft agreement text of more than 20 pages envisions several phases that must be implemented after approval by other countries involved in the negotiations.

Three diplomats familiar with the Vienna negotiations told Reuters that in the first phase, Iran will halt enrichment above 5 percent.

There is no news yet about what should be done with Iran’s advanced centrifuges.

The next step is to release Iran’s frozen assets worth 7 billion dollars held in South Korea, and in return Iran will release Western prisoners.

Robert Malley, the U.S. senior representative in Vienna negotiations, had previously said that the release of these prisoners is a precondition for any kind of deal with Iran.

Main phase of sanctions relief on “Implementation Day”

Only when the initial phase of measures is completed and verified will the main phase of sanctions relief begin, leading to what many diplomats call “Implementation Day,” which refers to the “Implementation Day” of the original agreement, when the final steps regarding nuclear commitments and sanctions relief were taken.

Diplomats say the timeline for these phases has not yet been agreed upon, and the text includes the letter “X” for the number of days between important steps and Implementation Day. Various officials have estimated the time from agreement to Implementation Day between one to three months.

How oil sanctions will be lifted

As stated in the original JCPOA, the new agreement includes “granting waivers” by the United States to Iran’s oil sector sanctions instead of “complete lifting” of them, which requires extending the waivers every few months.

A Middle Eastern diplomat familiar with Vienna negotiations told Reuters that regarding oil exports under this agreement, Obama and Trump issued 90 to 120-day waivers and continuously extended them, until Trump, after withdrawing from the JCPOA, revoked all waivers.

Outstanding issues in negotiations

Stubborn issues that remain include Iran’s demand that the United States guarantee it will not withdraw again. U.S. officials say that given the difficulty of binding future governments, such a guarantee cannot be given.

A Middle Eastern diplomat and an Iranian official said Tehran is prepared to accept a lower level of enrichment, provided that if the United States violates the agreement, Iran will be allowed to enrich again up to 60 percent.

Possibility of direct talks between Iran and the United States

Some diplomats have said that lifting some sensitive sanctions may require direct meetings between Iranian and American officials.

Iran has so far avoided in-person meetings. Iranian and Middle Eastern officials said such action would take place at the end of the negotiations.

Iran: Reuters report is “distorted”

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to Reuters’ publication of details from the possible nuclear agreement draft of Vienna negotiations, calling it “distorted.”

According to ISNA, Saeed Khatibzadeh wrote on his Twitter account: “Publishing incorrect information under the guise of media reporting is dangerous. The final agreement for issuing permission for America’s return to the JCPOA will be very different from the distorted, baseless report that has been circulated. As we approach the final days, we should expect more distortions.”

The news site “NourNews,” close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, also called the Reuters report “unrealistic hype” and wrote: “Iran has stated from the beginning that as long as the United States does not take necessary steps toward lifting sanctions, it will not carry out any activities to reduce its nuclear measures, which are part of JCPOA commitments.”

This conservative site added regarding the release of Western prisoners in Iran: “Reuters reported on the release of American and European prisoners in Iran as part of the Vienna agreement, while essentially this issue has nothing to do with the ongoing negotiations in Vienna.”

Tasnim news agency also wrote citing informed sources: “The Reuters article is purely a psychological operation and has no connection to the actual reality of the negotiations.”

This news agency close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps added: “For example, the issue of prisoner release has nothing to do with nuclear negotiations in essence. And Iran will never halt enrichment above 5 percent before the issue of sanctions, particularly oil sanctions, is clarified and Iran receives its money through official channels.”

Source: DW