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Report: Iran agrees to 2-month suspension of nuke plan
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson says 'neutral countries asked Iran to give West time to respond to its proposals,' and that his country agrees 'as gesture of good will.' Iranian gesture to expire within month, he adds
Iran agreed to suspend its nuclear program for two months as part of an ultimatum it set before the West, according to statements made by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast to quasi-official news agency ILNA last week. The report was first published in Tehran Times, which is considered the mouthpiece of the Iranian regime.
"A number of neutral countries asked Iran not to enrich uranium for two months in order to give the West time to respond to Iran's proposals. We agreed to this request in order to show our good will to the international community," said Mehmanparast.
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The report, which was first published Monday in Haaretz, has not been confirmed by any other sources.
Officials in the West told Ynet that they "are unaware if this kind of suspension was indeed carried out." However, it seems as though Iran is interested in sending a low-level message to the West that it is interested in talking without being perceived as surrendering in public opinion at home.
About a week ago, US President Barack Obama's advisors said in an interview with the New York Times that the American administration has identified "a window of opportunity" to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program through targeted sanctions after they identified unexpected technical difficulties in the nuclear program that stem in part from the regime's preoccupation with putting down the opposition. It is possible that this "gesture" on Iran's part is a manifestation of the difficulties the regime has encountered.
The ultimatum to which Mehmanparast referred is in line with statements made by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mouttaki at the beginning of the month. Mouttaki said that if no agreement is signed with the West regarding the supply of nuclear fuel by the end January, Iran would start enriching uranium on its own.
The draft agreement over which the sides are quarreling was penned during talks in Geneva under the auspices of the IAEA in October. According to the proposal the Western powers offered Iran, 75% of the low-enriched uranium in Iran's possession (about 1,200 kg or 2,645 lbs) will be transferred to Russia for additional enriching of up to 20%. From here, the uranium would be transferred to France, who would produce the fuel rods with which Iran would run its Tehran-based research reactor to create medical isotopes.
Iran agreed to the proposal in principle, but later withdrew its agreement and expressed a number of reservations. There was a disagreement over to whom Iran would hand over its low-enriched uranium. The Islamic Republic brought up Turkey as an option. Another disagreement revolves around whether the uranium will be transferred in one portion, or in 400 kg (882 lbs) portions, as Iran would like
