What is the issue?
- Iran has notified IAEA of it's nuclear enrichment plans.
- Iran should cooperate with Europe and China to work around U.S. sanctions.
What is Iran's stance?
- Iran said that it was in “preparatory works” to restart nuclear activities.
- This is in the event of the failure of the 2015 accord.
- In such a scenario, Iran could restart its activities without any limits.
- The preparatory works mentioned refer to steps to boost uranium enrichment capacity by producing new centrifuges.
- In addition, it had notified of a plan to restart activity at its uranium conversion facility to produce the UF6 feedstock for centrifuges.
What are the other developments in this regard?
- France, Britain, Germany and the EU have sent a joint official request to the U.S.
- It asks for their companies to be exempt from punitive measures resulting from fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran.
- It calls for exempting European businesses doing legitimate trade in Iran from all extraterritorial American sanctions.
What are the implications?
- Iran’s notification illustrates the risks associated with the recent U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal. (Click here to know more).
- According to the deal, Iran can enrich uranium, but under tight restrictions.
- It would not be technically violating the agreement as long as it does not produce centrifuges.
- But the move to open a production facility could be seen as a provocative step by the remaining parties to the agreement.
- The other signatories to the deal said they remain committed to the agreement.
- But they are yet to come up with a framework to continue the deal.
- The latest Iranian announcement could pressurise the European powers.
- They are forced to come up with guarantees that the deal’s benefits will be in place even with U.S. sanctions.
What is the way forward?
- It is uncertain if European companies would make investments in Iran, or even continue to do business, with U.S. sanctions.
- Earlier, they had discussed providing companies that do business with Iran, special financing from the European Investment Bank.
- Passing legislation to protect them from U.S. sanctions was also discussed.
- Concrete decision on these fronts are not yet taken and the EU is wary of giving any guarantee to Iran.
- The way forward is to continue a dialogue to find an economic and legislative package.
- This has to shield European companies and Iranian economic interests from U.S. sanctions.
Source: The Hindu
