Iran nuclear negotiations: July 20 won't be the end of the world
- By Jin Liangxiang
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 16, 2014
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US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hand with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier before a bilateral meeting, as part as talks between the foreign ministers of the six powers negotiating with Tehran on its nuclear program, in Vienna, on July 13, 2014. [Xinhua photo] |
![US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hand with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier before a bilateral meeting, as part as talks between the foreign ministers of the six powers negotiating with Tehran on its nuclear program, in Vienna, on July 13, 2014. [Xinhua photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20140715/001ec949c22b152f28f51b.jpg "US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hand with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier before a bilateral meeting, as part as talks between the foreign ministers of the six powers negotiating with Tehran on its nuclear program, in Vienna, on July 13, 2014. [Xinhua photo]")
July 20, the deadline designated as the negotiation of a comprehensive nuclear deal, is around the corner. While diplomats of Iran, P5+1 and an E.U. representative are intensely negotiating the conditions and terms, the world is anxiously awaiting the final outcome.
Despite the complicated nature of the issue, July 20 will not be the end of the world, just as Akbar Velayati, one of the most influential political figures of Iran, said at a meeting with a group of Chinese scholars in Shanghai on June 18. Both Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani need to keep fostering the relations between the U.S. and Iran.
On November 24, 2013, Iran and P5+1 reached an interim agreement titled "Plan of Joint Actions." Iran was committed to suspending all uranium enrichment activities beyond purity of 5 percent, freeze the construction of the Arak heavy water reactor, dilute half of its stockpile of 20 percent purity-enriched uranium into 5 percent purity and cooperate with IAEA's inspection of Parchin military sites. Meanwhile, the U.S. removed modest sanctions symbolically.
The interim agreement initiated a positive atmosphere surrounding Iranian nuclear diplomacy. It added modest, but important, confidence to the relations between the U.S. and Iran. It served to freeze the status of conflicts over the nuclear issue so the parties could have another six months to negotiate the agreement.
The past six months witnessed some meaningful progress in the implementation of the interim agreement and in the negotiation of the comprehensive agreement. According to reports, IAEA generally felt satisfied with Iran's cooperation in its inspection of the Parchin sites. Iran suspended its construction of the Arak reactor. Iran also diluted the required amount of its stockpile of 20 percent purity-enriched uranium. The U.S. and relevant parties returned the frozen assets to Iran and removed sanctions arranged in the interim agreement.
The parties also reached consensus on the Arak issue. Iran agreed to change the design of the core reactor so that its annual production of plutonium is reduced to about 1 kilogram, which is well below the level of 5 kilograms, the amount for one nuclear bomb.
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