Page 56 - BNE_magazine_06_2019

56 I Eurasia bne June 2019
Iran's heavy water reactor near Arak. Under the nuclear deal, Tehran agreed to redesign it to minimise production of plutonium. A reactor core was removed and filled with concrete.
Iran ‘scales down nuclear pact commitment by dropping uranium, heavy water limits’
bne IntelliNews
As warned, Iran appears to have moved ahead with a reduction in its commitment to the nuclear deal – reports on May 15 indicated
that Tehran has dropped the limits it had placed on the production of low- enriched uranium and heavy water.
Under the accord (formally the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) Iran agreed to a plan under which it could produce a maximum of 300 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, suitable for civilian nuclear purposes but nowhere near nuclear-bomb-grade, and up to 130 tonnes of heavy water. Excess amounts of the materials would be stored or sold abroad. However, the US lately warned it would sanction for- eign companies that purchase enriched uranium or heavy water from Iran as
www.bne.eu
it tightened its sanctions regime with measures attacking the Islamic Repub- lic’s nuclear development programme, all of its attempted oil exports and sales of industrial metals.
The moves reportedly made by Iran – communicated to Iranian news agencies by national security officials – do not appear to violate the JCPOA, but Iran has warned that unless the world powers still signed up to the nuclear deal – France, Germany, the UK, China and Russia – do not within 60 days do substantially more to assist its economy in the face of the unprecedented sanctions attack waged by the US, it will start enriching uranium at a higher level. At that point, the nuclear deal could start to unravel.
The nuclear deal caps the level of purity
to which Iran can enrich uranium at 3.67%, far below the 90% needed to achieve nuclear-weapons-grade. It is also considerably below the 20%-level which Iran was achieving before the JCPOA took effect at the start of 2016.
The European Union and the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK say they are still committed to the JCPOA but will not accept any ultima- tums from Tehran.
Europe told to ‘waste no more time’
Central Bank of Iran (CBI) chief Abdolnasser Hemmati has this week pressed Europe to waste no more time in commencing a special payment vehicle that would help to get some extra trade between European companies and Ira- nian enterprises moving. The situation is