US says it will raise draft interim deal with Iran in talks with Israel
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan raised the prospect of an interim deal with Iran to allow more time for nuclear negotiations, during talks with his Israeli counterpart, Eyal Hulata, according to a report released Wednesday.
Two US sources said Sullivan and Hulata were just a “brainstorming” and that the proposal was suggested by an unspecified European ally of the United States, the Axios news site reported.
U.S. sources said the proposal was for Iran to suspend banned nuclear activity such as 60 percent uranium enrichment, in exchange for the U.S. and allied countries freeing part of it. Iranian money frozen or granting exemptions from sanctions on humanitarian goods.
An unnamed Israeli official quoted in the report said Hulata told Sullivan he was against the idea and that Israel’s concern was that any interim deal could become permanent, allowing Iran to maintain its nuclear infrastructure. and the uranium supply it has accumulated.
Hulata reiterated Israel’s opposition to the proposal to US special envoy to Iran Robert Malley, according to the report.
In a separate appeal with Sullivan, Hulata said the United States and its European allies must push to censor Iran at next week’s meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, according to the report.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan listens to a question during a press conference in the James Brady Press Room of the White House on August 17, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images / AFP)
Israel and its allies have grown increasingly concerned about Iran’s nuclear program in recent months, before talks resumed on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its latest report on Wednesday that Iran had increased its stocks of highly enriched uranium, defying commitments made under the nuclear deal.
His estimate of Iran’s stocks as of Nov. 6 was several times above the limit set in the deal with world powers, according to the IAEA report. Such highly enriched uranium can be easily refined to make atomic weapons, which is why world powers have sought to contain Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Vienna-based agency told members it was still unable to verify Iran’s exact stockpile of enriched uranium due to limitations Tehran imposed on UN inspectors earlier this year. .
The IAEA has not been able to access surveillance footage of Iranian nuclear sites or online enrichment monitors and electronic seals since February. Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi told The Associated Press this month the situation was like “flying in a very cloudy sky”.
An article published on Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal said Iran had resumed production of parts for advanced centrifuges at a nuclear site allegedly targeted by Israel.
Grossi will travel to Tehran next Monday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, the Iranian atomic agency spokesman said, with several key dates approaching, including the resumption of nuclear talks in Vienna on November 29, in focus dead since June.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday that Iran was “absolutely serious” about the nuclear talks, during a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The Vienna talks will bring together the other parties to the deal – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia – while the United States will participate indirectly in the negotiations.
