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Iranian Confidence-Building Measures: Real or Illusory?
(Jerusalem Post) Ephraim Asculai - The November 2013 International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran disclosed several interesting facts: No new gas centrifuge machines for the enrichment of uranium had been installed at any of the known Iranian facilities; construction of the IR-40 heavy water reactor at Arak was not progressing; the 20%-enriched uranium UF6 stocks increased very little; and the IAEA concluded an agreement with Iran on the implementation of several inspection rights and the provision of additional information that the IAEA requested. However, these can also be viewed as minor actions, with no real consequence regarding slowing down or halting Iran's development of the capabilities for producing nuclear weapons. Moreover, the production of enriched uranium in Iran has not slowed down, contrary to what some in the media have been implying. Iran continued enriching uranium to the level of 3.5% at much the same rate as before. Iran has yet to make its first big concession to prove to the world that it is trustworthy. The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.