Iran pulls plug on centrifuges; nuke work slows

U.S., EU lift some sanctions in deal to curb atomic work

An unidentified International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector cuts the connections between the twin cascades for 20 percent uranium enrichment at the Natanz facility, some 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. Iran has halted its most sensitive uranium enrichment work as part of a landmark deal struck with world powers, state TV said Monday. The broadcast said Iran halted its 20 percent uranium enrichment, which is just steps away from bomb-making materials, by cutting the link feeding cascades enriching uranium in Natanz. (AP Photo/IRNA, Kazem Ghane)

An unidentified International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector cuts the connections between the twin cascades for 20 percent uranium enrichment at the Natanz facility, some 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. Iran has halted its most sensitive uranium enrichment work as part of a landmark deal struck with world powers, state TV said Monday. The broadcast said Iran halted its 20 percent uranium enrichment, which is just steps away from bomb-making materials, by cutting the link feeding cascades enriching uranium in Natanz. (AP Photo/IRNA, Kazem Ghane)

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran unplugged banks of centrifuges involved in its most sensitive uranium enrichment work on Monday, prompting the United States and European Union to partially lift economic sanctions as a landmark deal aimed at easing concerns over Iran’s nuclear program went into effect.

The mutual actions - curbing atomic work in exchange for some sanctions relief - start a six-month clock for Tehran, Washington and five other world powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany - to negotiate a final accord that President Barack Obama’s administration and its European allies say will be intended to ensure Iran cannot build a nuclear weapon.

The interim agreement, struck in broad outline in Geneva in November, was made final eight days ago after seven weeks of negotiations over its implementation.

The interim deal puts limits on Iran’s nuclear program - though it continues low levels of uranium enrichment. Tehran denies its nuclear program is intended to produce a bomb.

The payoff to Iran is an injection of billions of dollars into its crippled economy over the next six months from the suspension of some sanctions.

In part a reflection of a thaw between Washington and Tehran, the moves coincidentally occurred on the 33rd anniversary of the end of the Iran hostage crisis. The holding of 52 Americans for 444 days by radical Iranian students that ended Jan. 20, 1981, was followed by more than three decades of U.S.-Iranian enmity that only began to ease last year with signs that Iran was ready to meet U.S. demands and scale back its nuclear activities.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called the deal “an important milestone” - but not the ultimate goal.

“It’s important that other sanctions are maintained and the pressure is maintained for a comprehensive and final settlement on the Iranian nuclear issue,” Hague said.

Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, who has played a central role in the negotiations, said Monday in Brussels that she hoped the Iranian actions would lead to a new round of talks on a permanent agreement within weeks.

“Depending on how things work out today, I hope that we will start talks within the next few weeks,” Reuters quoted her as saying.

The Europeans are aiming to start negotiations on a final deal in February, though no date or venue has been agreed on yet. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday that Tehran is ready to enter talks as soon as the interim deal goes into force.

In the first step of the interim accord, Iranian state TV said authorities disconnected cascades of centrifuges producing 20 percent enriched uranium at the Natanz facility in central Iran. The broadcast said international inspectors were on hand to witness the stoppage before leaving to monitor suspension of enrichment at Fordo, another site in central Iran.

Iran also started Monday to convert part of its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium to oxide, which can be used to produce nuclear fuel but is difficult to reconvert for weapons use, the official IRNA news agency said.

After receiving independent confirmation of the steps from the United Nations watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, EU foreign ministers in Brussels approved the partial sanctions suspension.

The White House also announced the suspension of some American sanctions on Iran.

“These actions represent the first time in nearly a decade that Iran has verifiably enacted measures to halt progress on its nuclear program, and roll it back in key respects,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said ina statement.

He said Iran is also providing U.N. inspectors with increased transparency, including more frequent and intrusive inspections. “Taken together, these concrete actions represent an important step forward,” he said.

Under the deal reached in November in Geneva, Iran agreed to halt its 20 percent enrichment program but continue enrichment up to 5 percent.

Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi said his country has a total of 432 pounds of 20 percent enriched uranium and will convert half of it to oxide over a period of six months. The remaining half will be diluted to a level below 5 percent level within three months.

Uranium enriched to a high degree - above 90 percent - can be used to build a nuclear warhead. Enriched below 5 percent, it can power an electricity-generating reactor, and at 20 percent it can power reactors used to produce medical isotopes. The enrichment is done by spinning the uranium in a series of centrifuges.

Iran will also refrain from commissioning its under-construction 40 megawatt heavy water reactor in Arak, central Iran. That reactor can produce plutonium, another route to building a warhead.

Under the deal, the number of Energy Agency inspectors in Iran will “roughly double,” said Tero Varjoranta, an agency deputy director-general. That would increase the agency’s presence on the ground to a maximum of eight inspectors in Iran at any time.

Inspectors will have daily access to Iran’s enrichment facilities, a senior diplomat familiar with details of the implementation plan said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details.

In exchange for the nuclear curbs, Iran receives a halt to new sanctions and easing of some existing sanctions. Measures targeting petrochemical products, gold and other precious metals, the auto industry, passenger plane parts and services will be lifted immediately.

The Geneva deal allows Iran to continue exporting crude oil at its current level, which is reported to be about 1 million barrels a day.

Senior U.S. administration officials have put the total relief figure at some $7 billion of an estimated $100 billion in Iranian assets in foreign banks. Iran is to receive the first $550 million installment of $4.2 billion of its assets blocked overseas on Feb. 1.

Iran’s hard-liners have called the deal a “poisoned chalice,” highlighting the difficult task President Hasan Rouhani faces in selling the accord to skeptics.

Hard-line media denounced the bargain. The Vatan-e-Emrooz daily printed in black Monday instead of its usual colors, a sign of sorrow and mourning. It declared the deal a “nuclear holocaust” and called it a gift to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu.

Other Iranian newspapers joined in the criticism.

“What we have given up is not only incomparable with what we have received, but much less significant than can be called a win-win situation,” wrote Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor in chief of Kayhan, a newspaper often referred to as the mouthpiece for the most conservative members of Iran’s political establishment.

Ahmad Tavakoli, a prominent conservative member of parliament, told fellow lawmakers Monday that there were two main problems with the nuclear deal.

“First of all, there are so many discrepancies in the text of the agreement that we can hardly be hopeful that our national interests will ever materialize. Second, as officials, we must not reveal our weak points in a way that our enemies can exploit them,” Tavakoli said.

But Salehi said in an interview on state television Monday that the deal with world powers over Iran’s nuclear activities was a victory for the Islamic Republic.

Speaking of Western powers, and the United States in particular, Salehi said: “We know that they have power and do not wish us well. They wanted to put pressure on us with sanctions, but we were able to manage the situation well.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu expressed deep skepticism about the international community’s preliminary nuclear deal with Iran on Monday, urging the world to step up pressure as it begins negotiations on a final agreement.

Speaking to the Israeli parliament Monday, Netanyahu said the agreement “does not prevent Iran from implementing its intentions of obtaining a nuclear weapon.” He said the final agreement “must remove the Iranian nuclear train from the tracks.”

Netanyahu was speaking before an address by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who stood by Israel’s side on the nuclear issue.

“We truly hope that it is possible to walk the Iranian government back from taking the irreversible step of manufacturing nuclear weapons,” Harper said.

“But, for now, Canada’s own sanctions will remain fully in place. And should our hopes not be realized, should the present agreement prove ephemeral, Canada will be a strong voice for renewed sanctions,” Harper said.

Information for this article was contributed by Ali Akbar Darein, John-Thor Dahlburg, Darlene Superville and Juergen Baetz of The Associated Press; Thomas Erdbrink and Alan Cowell of The New York Times; and by Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/21/2014