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The Nuclear Deal Is Iran's Legal Path to the Bomb

(Politico) Ray Takeyh - The Iran nuclear deal is riddled with problematic provisions that essentially put Iran on a legal glide path to the bomb. Given the deal's permissive research and design provisions, Iran can effectively modernize its nuclear infrastructure while adhering to the agreement. Iran will likely covertly enrich uranium at a hidden, undisclosed facility - after all, they've done it before. A small cascade of advanced IR-8 centrifuges can quickly enrich vast quantities of uranium to weapons-grade quality. Because so few of these centrifuges would be required, they can be housed in small facilities that may evade detection in a timely manner. Iran had no problem disassembling many of its outdated IR-1 centrifuges and giving the Westerners the illusion that it was circumscribing its nuclear activities. Iran was planning to phase out its IR-1s even if the nuclear deal had not come along. The writer is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2017-09-28 00:00:00
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