Iran: We will respond to IAEA proposal next week
IAEA: Iran considering nuclear draft deal 'in depth and in a favorable light.'
By Yossi Melman and News Agencies Tags: UN Israel news Iran nuclearSenior Iranian officials stated on Friday that they would not respond to the United Nations-drafted plan that would ship most of the country's uranium abroad for enrichment until next week.
Iran has not yet refused the nuclear draft deal, saying instead it would prefer to buy the nuclear fuel it needs for a reactor that makes medical isotopes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency released a statement on Friday saying "Iran informed the Director General today that it is considering the proposal in depth and in a favorable light, but needs time until the middle of next week to provide a response."
It said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who had set a deadline of Friday for responses, hoped that Iran's response "will equally be positive, since approval of this agreement will signal a new era of cooperation."
While Iran did not reject the plan outright, state TV reported that Tehran was waiting for a response to its own proposal to buy nuclear fuel rather than ship low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment.
Iran has often used counterproposals as a way to draw out nuclear negotiations with the West.
The United Nations nuclear watchdog on Wednesday presented a draft deal to Iran and three world powers for approval within two days to reduce Tehran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium, seen by the West as a nuclear weapons risk.
Russia earlier on Friday agreed to proposals by the UN nuclear watchdog to help reduce Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.
"We agree with these proposals and we are counting on not only Iran, but all the other participants of the negotiations, to confirm their readiness to implement the proposed scheme," Lavrov told reporters.
In addition to Russia, the United States and France have also approved the draft.
A U.S. official on Friday said that Washington would await a formal response from Iran on the proposed nuclear draft, while French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was quoted as saying that indications received from Iran were "not very positive."
"I cannot say that the situation regarding Iran is very positive. Now, meetings are being held in Vienna. But via the indications we are receiving, matters are not very positive," Kouchner said during an official visit to Lebanon.
Meanwhile, officials in Tehran said on Friday they were was awaiting a "positive and constructive" response from world powers to its proposal on providing nuclear fuel for the reactor, state television reported.
"Now we are awaiting a positive and constructive response on Iran's proposal from the other party on providing nuclear fuel for Tehran's reactor," TV quoted a member of Iran's negotiating team, who attended the Vienna meeting on Oct 21, as saying.
"The other party is expected to avoid past mistakes in violating agreements ... and to gain Iran's trust," the unnamed official said.
EU official: Israel out of the loop on Iran talks
Meanwhile, a senior European Union official told Israeli officials this week that Israel is not privy to the details of the exchanges between Iran and the Western countries regarding its nuclear program.
"You do not understand the extent to which you are not in the picture. You do not know how much you do not know and what is happening in Iran," he said.
Accordingly, a number of senior Israeli officials backed the European official's statements by saying that the release of the draft of an agreement with Iran caught Israel by surprise.
However, a senior official in the U.S. administration told Haaretz Thursday that from the minute the talks began on a deal over the uranium enrichment program of Iran, Israel was updated on every detail by the United States, and was given detailed reports on the talks with the Iranians and the ongoing dialogue on a nearly daily basis.
The Prime Minister's Bureau refused to comment.
Barak slams Iran nuclear deal
Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke out Thursday against the draft agreement on Iran's nuclear program, under which most of its enriched uranium will be exported abroad for processing into a form usable in its research reactor.
"Iran received legitimization for enriching uranium for civilian purposes on its soil, contrary to the understanding that those negotiating with it have about its real plans - obtaining nuclear [weapons] capability," Barak said.
He acknowledged that the deal, if signed, would significantly reduce Iran's stock of enriched uranium, but said what is needed is a complete halt to its enrichment program.
"The talks [with Iran] must be of short, limited duration," he added. "The principle we are recommending to all the players is not, under any circumstances, to remove any option from the table."
Iran is slated to sign the agreement Friday, along with the United States, France, Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency. And while the Iranians might try to wrest some last-minute concessions from their interlocutors, most analysts expect that they will ultimately sign, despite objections from some Iranian parliamentarians who say it infringes on the country's sovereignty.
Many details of the agreement have not yet been published, but the bits released to the public call for Iran to transfer about 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium - about 75 percent of its known stock - to Russia. There, it will be enriched to a level of 20 percent and then transferred to France, where it will be processed into nuclear fuel and returned to Tehran for use in its research reactor, which makes medical isotopes. The entire process will take about 18 months.
This would leave Iran with only some 300 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, which is enough to make only about 6 kilograms of bomb-grade uranium. Since a nuclear weapon requires 25 to 30 kilograms of high-enriched uranium, that means Iran would lack the means to produce a bomb in the next year or so whatever its intentions.
Nevertheless, the deal completely ignores repeated UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Tehran stop enrichment. Instead, it effectively legitimizes Iranian enrichment and allows it to continue.
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The government(s) of Iran are in great disorder right now. The election issue remains in the fore and nothing is handled quickly.
And what will coax others from providing Iran the technology, parts and experts to help them build nukes? Talk is cheap and some kind of stern or unrewarding action is required.
...especially the type of counter-proposals that enable them to fully achieve their objectives. What approach will truly dissuade the Iranians from making nukes publicly and in a hidden and undisclosed manner?
See their perfect game with the UK in their water.
and yes they see stalling in a very favorable light. Keep talking... keep stalling... Keep enriching their own Uranium
Iran has learnt the same thing that Netanyahu learnt- Obama does not pull the trigger. Just like Netanyahu's settlers are not worried about Obama, neither is Iran worried about sanctions. If Israel is waiting for help from Obama on anything, it is waiting in vain. One year from now, Iran might not have the bomb. But it will be running the middle east. And US will have a brand new oil deal with Iran.
israel is "out of the loop," and the rest of the world plays alice in wonder land.
Barak and other Israeli leaders should really shut up just now and give this thing a chance. It sounds like it's on a knife-edge and shrill voices from Israel demanding this and that are no help at all, given Iran's views about the Zio government. If it doesn't fly, Barak and gang can take the stage and tell us all where the USA, Russia and the EU went wrong and how the Israeli Foreign Ministry's superior insight (Lieberman!) would have solved it.
"You do not understand the extent to which you are not in the picture. You do not know how much you do not know what is happening in Iran." Thats an "unknown-unknown" if I've ever seen one.
Israel can concentrate on military preemption if European powers and US have decided to let negotiations go on and on without change in Iranian behavior because only Israel is in their eyes a probable target of Iranian nuclear weapons.
Rumurs slowly spreading that recent Iran's tactics in international talks are due to their weeknesses internally.Talking closely how dissolve Revolutionary Guards in Iranian Army under professional commanders and get rid of these nonprofessional,power hungry and corrupt persons .Fianally save their regime.They say this Rev.Guards isn't what it was during Iraq-Iran War.
People ,like you, want to see Israel in a weak position, like many gentiles. But Israel is smarter than her enemies, and that makes bigots like you mad. So you can be upset and go to Hell.
A proposal, a delay, a hinting towards agreement, rejected. It's like the same thing Hamas and Shalit. They have been near a deal like 10 times but it never happens. Keep delaying they eventually going to nukes.
So what has Barack Obama learned today in this crash course in dealing with a totalitarian, waiting for Mahdi, and End of Days regime, bent on obtaining nuclear weapons to trigger that end? He should have learned that diplomacy in this case is not only futile, it is dangerous. But he could have learned this long ago by just reading Winston Churchill?s ?The Gathering Storm?.
Iran has not signed the Addional Protocol, so it is in its right not to abide with that. By a similar logic, Israel has not signed the NPT, so they are allowed to have nuclear weapons. You can't have it both ways. If Israel is not bound by treaties it did not sign, neither is Iran.
how do you know "Israel was never going to bomb Iran?" all knowing one?
Like Senator McCain so eloquently sang: Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran ..... Ahmadinejad like his Arab brethren have no intentions of caving to the infidels. Time is on their side. Why should they care. They know US can't attack and Israel won't. As long as they have China and Russian on their side ... it's all irrelevant.
in one - two years time will everybody still be playing this game? it's interesting to note that w/reg. to iran the powers are willing to ignore the conditions already set by the UNSC as a response to iran refusing to abide by them. how much is the UNSC worth these days? useless when it come to iran, useless w/hezbollah, completely powerless over sudan (darfur)..
So, you jew haters are pleased with israel being out of the loop? Isn't it wonderful how europe, now led by hussein obama is negotiating this "scheme" as lavrov so eloquently put it?All aboard the "let's get the jews again" train!! What a farce...so short sighted..OF COURSE Iran is smiling, knowing that the UN was defeated, resolutions count for nothing, and before you know it, nukes will be used again. This time though, the retaliation will be horrific and all nations will suffer once more..thomas friedman could elaborate on this interconnectivity and how a middle east nuclear exchange will devastate all of us..so sure, go on, let iran get the bomb, they WILL use it, and israel WILL completely irradiate ALL of Iran. Fact is, israel has been 100% responsible with it's nuke stockpile for near 45 yrs,would the arabs do the same given the weapons? ya right.... and all of you jew haters will still be happy despite many of your family members being wiped out, as long as israel is too.
Iran is safer to trust with an N-bomb ? You need you head examined, friend.
If Iran's shipping of Uranium would hold back Israel, that is one thing. But it is clear that Israel does not accept this deal and plans to continue the pressure. In this light, it does not help Iran at all to go ahead with this deal.
Last week the left arm and a bunch of fingers on the right hand of the Revolutionary Guards were chopped off (with a bomb). Very soon the rest of the Revolutionary Guard will be be chopped into pieces. Three cheers for democracy and sanity in Iran, finally!
Did you read this article?
I would let WIZO women tell that back to the "European Official" who states and believes Israel isn't informed.
Time is running for Israel,stop the whining and allow nuke inspectors on your soil.
Iran is determined to acquire and develop nuclear warheads. The UN sanctions regime did not work; Iran has many resources at its disposal to hire nuclear scientists and related equipment. After all it has the whole state apparatus at its disposal to conduct this kind of illegal activity. Without decisive use of force, we may only expect a nuclear war, a massive amount of victims and, yes reaction by democracies when it is already too late for many of our citizens. This might be the ultimate lesson learnt from the Versailles fiasco. More about the M-E and nuclear Iran : http://xrl.us/bfvnfk
The agreement is that everyone involved in enriching Uranium for Iran agrees, China, the US, the UK and Germany agrees as sign of goodwill. Then Iran will also assent to the agreement. Israel is not privy to the negotiations, Netanyahu and the nightclub bouncer are informed as and when necessary. A secret they have kept from the Israeli people is that Israel is no longer consulted on matters pertaining to the Middle East on an automatic basis at the White House. In fact when was the Foreign Minister of Israel last at the White House?
...than Israel to own a nuclear weapon. Barak and others who bark should understand that israel should as well open its nuclear programs to inspections.
A sure sign that this is true, is the fact that "Haaretz have learned" didn't appear in this article, so that means that the FM doesn't know and can't leak it. Anyhow this is good news, now the US can concentrate on that illusive "freeze"and the UN can look into what took place in Gaza during those three weeks of distruction.