Page 11 - IRANRptOct20

The nuclear deal—formally named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA—allows Iran to keep a maximum stockpile of 202.8 kilograms.
Iran has continued to enrich uranium to a purity of up to 4.5% as against the 3.67% permitted under the JCPOA. However before the signing of the deal with six major powers—including the US, which subsequently under Donald Trump unilaterally exited the JCPOA in May 2018 in favour of a harsh regime of sanctions designed to force Tehran to renegotiate the Islamic Republic’s military and geopolitical standing in the Middle East—it achieved 20%. Nuclear weapons-grade uranium is 90%-enriched or more.
The IAEA also said in its report that Iran’s stockpile of heavy water had decreased and was now back within the limits set by the JCPOA.
Although Iran has been gradually violating JCPOA restrictions—to drive home the point that it is displeased by how little help it has received from Europe in protecting its economy from US sanctions, sanctions which are heavier than the multilateral sanctions that were removed in return for Iran signing the nuclear deal and agreeing to curb its nuclear development programme—the remaining big power signatories to the accord—namely France, Germany, the UK, China and Russia—subscribe to the view that it is important to keep the deal alive as long as Iran continues allowing the IAEA critical access to inspect its nuclear facilities.
2.9 ​Polls & Sociology
Risk analysis identifies Turkey, Iran and Russia among 37 nations likely to face mass ‘post-Covid’ protests
Turkey, Iran and Russia are among 37 emerging and frontier market countries likely to face mass protests in the coming months as restrictions imposed to control the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are increasingly lifted and the huge economic impact of the crisis is realised, according to​ ​new research​ f​ rom a global risk analysis company.
“The total number of protests in frontier and emerging markets has almost rebounded to pre-pandemic levels,” said Verisk Maplecroft principal analyst Miha Hribernik. “With many countries still in lockdown, and the full economic shock of the outbreak yet to be felt, we expect the number of protests to surge over the next 2-3 months.”
Verisk Maplecroft concluded that the outlook was particularly worrying for frontier and emerging markets where the post-pandemic economic outlook is bleak. Iran, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Algeria and Ethiopia are among countries facing a “perfect storm” of grassroots anger—protests triggered by the pandemic’s economic fallout look set to combine with unrest over pre-existing grievances over issues ranging from poverty to food supply, it said.
“Our base case from January—that 2020 will see a surge in protests and that the coming decade is set to be one of unprecedented unrest—still stands,” said Hribernik. “But in the countries least prepared to bounce back from the pandemic, it now looks like a best-case scenario.”
Russia, Turkey, India, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia face risks that are only slightly less acute than those of the countries with the most “perfect storm” potential, the report added.
Belarus, Bulgaria and Serbia, as well as Congo and Ethiopia, are among
11​ IRAN Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com