Excerpts from previous status reports, by subject
Removed on June 27, 2005
Iran's second uranium enrichment freeze takes hold
The IAEA resolution on Iran passed by consensus
on November 29, 2004 welcomed Iran’s decision to “continue
and extend its suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing
activities,” and
noted that Iran’s suspension was only a “voluntary, non-legally-binding,
confidence building measure.” The language gave Iran plenty
of room to renege on all or part of its nuclear freeze. Indeed, the
day after the resolution was passed Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator
Hassan Rowhani reportedly told a news conference that the length
of the nuclear freeze “must be rational and not too long.” He
qualified “not too long” as “months, not years.” What’s
more, the resolution did not contain an automatic “trigger” that
would send Iran to the U.N. Security Council if its fails to maintain
its nuclear freeze, as had been advocated by the United States. Iran
previously froze uranium enrichment work in October 2003, but resumed
such work in May 2004.
Officials from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union met with their Iranian counterparts in December 2005 to discuss the details of Iran's nuclear freeze and how to make it permanent. The largely ceremonial meeting was followed by a series of technical discussions, during which Iran tried to limit the scope of its suspension.
Despite European efforts, it seems clear that for the regime in Tehran, the suspension is only temporary. In March 2005, Iran tabled a proposal in which it would be allowed to resume uranium processing by July 2005, to assemble, install and test 3,000 centrifuges at Natanz, to run the centrifuges to enrich uranium under surveillance by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and to fabricate the enriched uranium into reactor fuel rods. In exchange, the Iranian government would make a series of statements concerning its peaceful nuclear intentions, support the ratification of the IAEA’s Additional Protocol, forgo the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and commit to producing only low-enriched uranium. Europe would also have to throw in economic carrots, agree to provide Iran with nuclear power plants, access to nuclear fuel, and contracts for defense equipment.
Presidential election results
The outcome of Iran's June 2005 presidential election
has also cast doubt on the future of Iran's nuclear suspension. Iran’s
46.7 million eligible voters went to the polls on June 17 to elect
a new
president.
No candidate
achieved an outright
majority, so former president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and hard-line
Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faced each other in a runoff
election on June 24. Rafsanjani cast himself as a moderate, willing
to continue
pragmatic negotiations with Europe over the scope of Iran’s
nuclear program, while Ahmadinejad voiced a harder line. Ahmadinejad
swept to victory in the second round of voting. He has promised
to continue negotiations with Europe, “while considering national
interests and the absolute rights of the Iranian nation.”