IranInterim nuclear agreement with Iran goes into effect 20 January

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that Iran, on 20 January, will start implementing November’s “comprehensive agreement.”

One of the main clauses in the agreement calls for Iran to begin eliminating its stockpile of highly enriched uranium – that is, uranium enriched to 20 percent or higher — in eight days’ time from the start date.

“As of that day, for the first time in almost a decade, Iran’s nuclear program will not be able to advance, and parts of it will be rolled back, while we start negotiating a comprehensive agreement to address the international community’s concerns about Iran’s program,” Kerry said in a statement.

The Guardian reports that Sunday’s announcement, which was confirmed by Iran, comes at the end of weeks of fine-tuning over the technical implementation of November’s interim deal. The breakthrough comes at a time when hardliners in both Tehran and Washington have increased their campaign against it.

November’s agreement provides limited sanctions relief to Iran — according to U.S. estimates, the relief would provide a $7 billion boost to the Iranian economy, with the bulk of relief in the shape of $4.2 billion in restricted Iranian assets which will be repatriated to Tehran in regular instalments throughout the six months until the deal concludes in July. – in exchange for an Iranian agreement to freeze its nuclear program, destroy stockpiles of higher-grade uranium, and accept more rigorous inspections of its nuclear facilities.

A senior administration official told the Guardian that Iran had agreed to disable the cascade that produces 20 percent-enriched uranium before the start of the agreement, and to begin destroying existing stockpiles immediately.

“By the end of the six months, it will all be gone,” a second senior administration official said.

“We are basically waiting to make certain that Iran has begun to fulfil its commitments, as verified by the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], before the funds are made available to the Iranians,” a third senior administration official said.

The interim agreement will last only until July, and officials said it would likely have to be renewed to give more time for extended talks over a permanent agreement.

Obama has warned that additional sanctions, or a threat of additional sanctions, on Iran at this stage would be counterproductive. “Imposing additional sanctions now will only risk derailing our efforts to resolve this issue peacefully, and I will veto any legislation enacting new sanctions during the negotiation,” Obama said on Sunday.

He added: “With today’s agreement, we have made concrete progress. I welcome this important step forward, and we will now focus on the critical work of pursuing a comprehensive resolution that addresses our concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.”

The interim agreement is facing opposition in Tehran as well. Last Thursday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, used fiery language to criticize the approach of the United States — which he called the “Great Satan” — to the negotiations.

“The nuclear talks showed the enmity of America against Iran, Iranians, Islam and Muslims,” he said.

In his Sunday’s statement, Kerry echoed Obama’s call on Congress to hold back on new sanctions.

“Now is not the time for politics,” he said.

The Guardian notes that any bill increasing sanctions on Iran would likely contain a six-month delay, and only be implemented if the current agreement fell apart. It would, however, jeopardize November’s deal, which contains a clause in which the United States administration committed itself to “refrain from imposing new nuclear-related sanctions” — even though the wording provided some acknowledgement that Obama could not control legislation passed by Congress.