[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: Europeans Say Iran Agrees to Freeze Uranium Enrichment

Tue Nov 16 08:24:55 PST 2004

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Europeans Say Iran Agrees to Freeze Uranium Enrichment

November 16, 2004
 By ELAINE SCIOLINO 

PARIS, Nov. 15 - France, Britain and Germany announced
Monday that they had reached a formal agreement with Iran
committing the country to freeze a critical part of its
nuclear program in exchange for an array of possible
rewards. 

Under the complex but limited agreement, intended to
prevent Iran from developing nuclear bombs, Tehran has
agreed to suspend all of its uranium enrichment and
reprocessing activities while it negotiates the benefits it
is to receive. 

While both sides were relieved to reach an agreement,
neither seemed particularly satisfied. Both sides had to
make hard concessions, and the pact fell far short of the
comprehensive deal the Europeans had hoped for, by which
Iran would permanently stop enriching uranium. 

Iran is the second largest oil producer in the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the announcement of
the deal appeared to have calmed fears in the commodities
markets, propelling crude oil prices to their lowest levels
in almost two months. 

"We believe that the conclusion of this agreement can both
allow for confidence-building in respect of Iran's nuclear
program and represent a significant development in
relations between Europe and Iran," Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw of Britain said in a written statement. "It is
essential now for the agreement to be implemented in full."

In Brussels, Javier Solana, the European Union's senior
foreign affairs official, said the deal could open the way
for "a solid, long-term agreement" with Iran if there could
be "lasting confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's
nuclear program." 

Enriched uranium has become a contentious issue because it
can be used to make nuclear weapons as well as fuel for
nuclear power plants. 

The Bush administration reacted cautiously to the
announcement, saying top officials wanted to study the
agreement's details before endorsing it. But Secretary of
State Colin L. Powell said that "we have seen a little bit
of progress, hopefully, over the last 24 hours." 

Administration officials said conservative hard-liners,
most notably John R. Bolton, the under secretary of state
for arms control and international security, were highly
skeptical that Iran would carry out the accord without
cheating. Officials were also said to be concerned that by
itself the deal might lead to complacency that the problem
of Iran's suspected nuclear arms program was being
addressed. 

The Europeans were deeply embarrassed after Iran violated a
much vaguer agreement to suspend enrichment activities that
was reached in Tehran 13 months ago. This time, the
Europeans insisted that Iran accept the new agreement as
negotiated and rejected Iran's attempts in the last several
days to modify it. 

In a related development, the United Nations agency that
monitors nuclear programs said Iran had informed the agency
that it would suspend its uranium enrichment program
starting a week from now. That step, which covers
verification and monitoring, was a necessary part of the
pact with the Europeans. 

But the agency, known as the International Atomic Energy
Agency, did not totally reject the view of the United
States and the three European countries that Iran was
trying to develop nuclear weapons, saying it could not rule
out covert activities. 

"All the declared nuclear material in Iran has been
accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted
to prohibited activities," the agency said in a report,
referring to possible weapons activity. "The agency is,
however, not in a position to conclude that there are no
undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran." 

Under the agreement with the Europeans, there must be
"objective guarantees" that Iran's nuclear program "is
exclusively for peaceful purposes." In exchange, the
Europeans must provide "firm guarantees on nuclear,
technological and economic cooperation and firm commitments
on security issues." 

Specifically, Iran agreed to suspend "the manufacture and
import of gas centrifuges and their components," all work
on plutonium separation and the construction or operation
of any plutonium separation installation, and "all tests or
production at any uranium conversion installation." 

Last year's agreement said nothing about the production and
assembly of centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium,
and when inspectors from the United Nations agency caught
Iran building them, the Europeans felts duped. 

The agreement also commits both sides to combating
terrorist activities, including those of Al Qaeda and the
Iranian opposition group known as the People's Mujahedeen. 

Once the suspension of enrichment is verified, the
European Union will restart negotiations on a trade and
cooperation agreement with Iran. It will also "actively
support" negotiations for Iran to enter the World Trade
Organization, a move that the Bush administration has
blocked and can continue to block. 

Iran's leadership has steadfastly held to the position that
Iran is not engaged in a nuclear weapons program but has
the sovereign right to enrich uranium. So as a face-saving
gesture, the agreement says Iran's suspension of enrichment
activities "is a voluntary confidence-building measure and
not a legal obligation." 

Hassan Rowhani, Iran's chief negotiator on nuclear issues,
reiterated that point in a news conference in Tehran on
Monday, calling uranium enrichment "Iran's right," and
adding that "Iran will never give up its right to enrich
uranium." 

He also said the suspension during negotiations for the
incentives package "will be a matter of months, not years,"
an assertion that the Europeans immediately rejected. 

"Suspension must remain in force until the I.A.E.A. gives
Iran a clean bill of health," said one European official.
"If the suspension is lifted the process is deemed to have
broken and we, the Europeans, will withdraw and go to the
Security Council." 

Making concessions on its nuclear program has been widely
unpopular inside Iran, and Mr. Rowhani was put on the
defensive by conservative Iranian journalists. 

When a reporter for the official Islamic Republic News
Agency remarked, "The reason Iran has given so many
concessions is because the Iranian team was weak," Mr.
Rowhani replied that the country's best diplomats had
conducted the negotiations and "this is the outcome of our
best diplomacy." 

Another Iranian journalist cited an interview in an Iranian
newspaper that accused Iran of giving "a pearl in exchange
for a lollipop." 

"That's not true," Mr. Rowhani shot back. 

Nazila Fathi
contributed reporting from Tehran for this article, and
Steven R. Weisman from Washington. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/international/middleeast/16iran.html?ex=1101622295&ei=1&en=c974b8f231c33aef

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