By Vestnik Kavkaza
On Sunday the 5+1 group of international mediators (Russia, the USA, China, France, the UK, Germany) tried to “speed up” development of the overall agreement with Iran, which should be signed by July 20th. Bilateral and trilateral meetings, including at the level of ministers, continued during the whole day and were rather heavy going.
The Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told journalists that the Iranian delegation is ready “to move at full speed” during the few days left before July 20th. However, Tehran finds the conditions which are “imposed” on them by the USA unacceptable.
Radzhab Safarov, general director of the Center for Iranian Studies, explained that the “six” can't agree on the parameters of the enrichment program of Iran: “It really matters, it concerns the most strategic and important interests of Iran. But the West, headed by the US, practically insists on reducing the research program. It means shutting it down, it means a lack of development. It would mean that in 3-4 years the Iranian nuclear program would be outdated.”
Safarov says that one of points of the US is about the number of centrifuges in Iran: “The Iranian government recently stated its position on this question. Even the spiritual leader of Iran Homeini, who rather rarely interferes in real politics, presented his opinion that for the full development of an Iranian nuclear program that would pursue only peaceful goals, 190,000 modern centrifuges are necessary. But the Americans insist on no more than 10,000 centrifuges. Imagine? It is almost 20 times less than necessary for the normal functioning of the nuclear complex in Iran. The Americans insist on conditions that no country could accept or even discuss. It goes beyond the limits of logic and reason,” Safarov thinks.
According to him, “it is a very acute and sensitive moment in the history of the Islamic Republic. And the West thinks that they can push and receive everything they want. The credit of trust in the cabinet of Rouhani comes to a limit when it is time to think whether it is reasonable, whether the government is considering all the factors, and whether the cabinet is able to make agreements with the West. Rouhani said that he would solve this problem within 6 months. But the time has passed. The people of Iran are all waiting for a breakthrough decision after the sixth round of negotiations between the “six” and Iran.
