Officials Call Iranian Nuclear Opening a “Promising Start,” but Reserve Final Judgment

Iran’s decision yesterday to allow more intrusive international monitoring of its nuclear activities and to suspend uranium enrichment has been called a “promising start” by Western officials. They added, however, that full implementation of the Iranian promises would be needed to resolve lingering doubts over Tehran’s nuclear intentions (see GSN, Oct. 21).

Iran’s decision was announced in a joint declaration yesterday following talks between Iranian officials and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom. According to the declaration, Iran has agreed to engage in “full cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency and to resolve all outstanding issues “through full transparency.”

In the declaration, Iran agreed “to sign the IAEA Additional Protocol and commence ratification procedures.” The protocol to Iran’s nuclear safeguards agreement would allow IAEA inspectors to conduct more intrusive inspections and monitoring activities in Iran. In addition, Iran agreed to “voluntarily suspend all uranium enrichment and processing activities as defined by the IAEA.”

For their part, France, Germany and the United Kingdom agreed to “recognize the right of Iran to enjoy the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” the declaration says. 

It also says the three countries are “resolved [that] Iran could expect easier access to modern technology and supplies in a range of areas” once concerns over Tehran’s nuclear program are resolved. In addition, the three countries have also agreed to help Iran promote the establishment of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East (Reuters, Oct. 21).

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami today said that the Additional Protocol would need to be presented to the Iranian Parliament for approval.

“It will have to be presented to Parliament. It is like all other agreements,” he said (Parinoosh Arami, Reuters II, Oct. 22).

Hassan Rohani, secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, said the Additional Protocol would likely be signed before an IAEA meeting scheduled for Nov. 20.

“I don’t think we will sign it before October 31 but probably before November 20,” Rohani said, referring to the Oct. 31 deadline set by the IAEA for Iran to provide more information on its nuclear program (Reuters/Jordan Times, Oct. 22).

The three European officials involved in the recent Iran talks — British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer — praised Iran’s decisions to sign the Additional Protocol and to suspend uranium enrichment.

“This is, we hope, a promising start,” de Villepin said. “We are on the right track, and we must all keep the momentum,” he added (Financial Times, Oct. 21).

“This agreement is opening a serious process to resolve the nuclear issue between Iran and the international community,” Fischer said (Reuters/Jordan Times).

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei also praised the declaration yesterday. In an interview with Arms Control Today, ElBaradei said that Iran still needed to provide a comprehensive and accurate declaration of its past nuclear activities to fully alleviate concerns over its nuclear program.

“If we get a comprehensive declaration, and we are able to verify that it is accurate and complete and if we get the protocol and we are able to implement the protocol in all future activities in Iran, then I think this would be a leap forward in terms of the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program,” ElBaradei said (Arms Control Today, Oct. 21).

U.S. President George W. Bush today offered more restrained praise.

“It looks like they’re accepting the demands of the free world and now it’s up to them to prove that they’ve accepted the demands. It’s a very positive development,” Bush said during a joint press conference held with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri (Financial Times).

Other U.S. officials, however, were less optimistic, according to the New York Times.

“Frankly, I’d say there’s a good reason for healthy skepticism about what Iran will actually do, as opposed to what it says,” a senior U.S. State Department official said (Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, Oct. 22).

British Foreign Minister Straw warned that the “significance” of the joint declaration could only be judged through Iran’s implementation.

“It’s been an important day’s work but you can only judge its significance in time and through implementation,” Straw said yesterday (Reuters/Jordan Times).

Iran announced today that it would provide the IAEA with documents on its nuclear program by the end of the day, according to Reuters (Arami, Reuters II).

Rohani said the suspension of uranium enrichment activities would be maintained for an undetermined time.

“We voluntarily chose to do it, which means it could last for one day or one year, it depends on us,” Rohani said. “As long as Iran thinks this suspension is beneficial it will continue, and whenever we don’t want it we will end it,” he said.

David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, said that only a complete end to Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts would end the crisis surrounding Tehran’s nuclear program.

“A freeze is good, but what we need is a halt to the uranium enrichment program if there is going to be a solution to this crisis,” Albright said (Reuters/Jordan Times).

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official said today that yesterday’s declaration demonstrated the ineffectiveness of U.S. strategies.

“A big conspiracy has been foiled ... (and) the United States has been isolated,” said Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s representative to the IAEA.

The declaration “showed the U.S. that global issues can’t be resolved by war and destruction, but by dialogue. It’s a victory for us, the EU and the international community,” he said.

Speculation that the declaration would allow EU firms to replace Russia as nuclear technology suppliers to Iran did not upset Russian officials.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said today that Moscow would continue to cooperate with Iran’s nuclear program (see GSN, Oct. 14).

“Russia is prepared to continue cooperating with Iran, including in the nuclear sphere, in strict compliance with international obligations,” he said (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Oct. 22).

In addition, the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry today said yesterday’s declaration will make it easier for Russia to construct the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran.

“Russia has come under certain pressure because of Bushehr … this agreement will certainly simplify and make our cooperation easier,” ministry chief spokesman Nikolai Shingaryev said (Agence France-Presse II, Oct. 22).

In Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesman played down the technology access portion of the joint declaration and asserted that the EU effort did not differ from the U.S. approach to Iran.

“I do not see anything that says that the Europeans have offered something in return” for Iranian nuclear transparency, spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday.

“It is important that Iran follows through on these commitments, and that’s the first step. And, you know, what happens later down the road, at this point, is purely speculative,” he said.

Ereli further denied that there had been any negotiation between the European foreign ministers and Iranian officials.

“There’s been no negotiation, there has been … no deal,” he said (U.S. State Department release, Oct. 21)

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