UN report says Iran is on target to meet goals for cutting nuclear arms
The UN鈥檚 International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is broadly meeting its commitments under a preliminary nuclear deal that set the current talks in Austria on the path to a final agreement, according to .
In agreeing to the November 2013 deal, Iran has pledged to not expand nuclear programs while negotiations are underway and to render harmless its stock of enriched uranium 鈥� uranium that is at levels just a technical step away from the form used in nuclear arms.
The Associated Press obtained the confidential report that was prepared by the UN鈥檚 atomic energy agency.
The report said more than four tons of the enriched uranium had been fed into a pipeline that ends with conversion of it into oxide, a material much less likely to be used to make nuclear arms.
A US official told the AP the US was satisfied that Iran met its commitments to reduce the amount of enriched uranium it stored.
The US and other countries have embarked on limited sanctions relief in step with Iran鈥檚 meeting of each commitment.
A Tuesday deadline was in place for Iran to work out a final deal regarding a peaceful settlement with the US, France, UK, Russia, China, and Germany but has been extended, as expected, to .
Just a month ago, the same UN agency Iran鈥檚 stockpile at more than 8 tons, leading to fears it wouldn鈥檛 meet its target of a reduction to 7.6 tons.
Should Iran fail to deliver on its promises, the Obama White House has said that it is happy to make sure sanctions are 鈥� into place.
According to , the UN Security Council will, as a safeguard, periodically approve a resolution maintaining sanctions relief. The resolution would a member state that has reason to believe Iran is violating the deal to block automatic rollover of relief.
The would take place every six months or year and a dispute-resolution panel including Iran and the six powers negotiating the pact would examine any reported violations and issue non-binding decisions.
But a 鈥渟napback鈥� would be 鈥渆asier said than done,鈥� Alex Vatanka from the Middle East Institute told because "it took about six years to put in place the massive international sanction regime Iran is under."聽聽聽聽
Sanctions typically include aid suspension, import and export bans, currency destabilization, prohibition of the ability to borrow, a ban on banks transferring loans across borders, and frozen assets.
The Pearson Institute for International Economics sanctions succeed in about one-third of cases overall but the rate depends on the type of objectives sought. They also note sanctions are more likely to be effective when goals are limited and clearly defined and targets are friendly or democratic countries.
In a , Washington Post reporter Glenn Kessler said 鈥渋n many ways, it is not the sanctions themselves but the ending of sanctions that is perceived to have the greatest impact.鈥� He finds their main appeal is that they can signal resolve without bombs or troops.
A report found tough sanctions on Iranian trade have caused many private Iranian businesses to close, leaving about Iranian workers unemployed.
Iran has been hit by a wide combination of sanctions. Obama has on curtailing oil revenue and pressuring Iran鈥檚 access to international financial systems. , half of Iran鈥檚 government revenues came from oil exports and comprised one-fifth of the country鈥檚 GDP. Since then, its oil exports have been cut off by more than half.
While sold about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day in 2011, during the past year it has averaged just 1.1 million barrels a day, according to Kenneth Katzman, a specialist in Middle East affairs at the Congressional Research Service. Roughly half the decline from sanctions by the European Union, which went from purchasing 600,000 barrels a day to almost zero. China and India, meanwhile, their purchases of Iranian oil by a combined 31 percent in a show of support for US policy against Iran.
According to , about $100 billion of Iranian assets have been frozen across the world under sanctions. But Iran Wednesday that it recovered 13 tones of its gold reserves, which were initially frozen but released as a result of a compromise on the sidelines of Iran鈥檚 negotiations in Vienna.
