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U.S. Sets Out "Bottom Lines" for Iran Nuclear Deal

(AFP) The U.S. set out what it called its "bottom lines" to reach a deal with Iran to rein in its nuclear program, ahead of new talks next week. A senior U.S. official stressed, "We will only accept an agreement that cuts off the different pathways to the fissile material that Iran needs for a nuclear weapon." While U.S. officials cautioned that there were no guarantees a deal would be reached, they said "the negotiations have advanced substantially, gaps have narrowed." The U.S. official spelled out where Washington was standing firm: Iran should not be allowed to develop weapons-grade plutonium at its Arak reactor. Iran should not use its Fordo nuclear plant to enrich uranium. Any deal must ensure that it would take Iran a year to gather enough fissile material to make a bomb. Iran would "reduce significantly" its current number of operating centrifuges and its domestic stockpile. Iran must agree to unprecedented inspections of both nuclear and production facilities as well as uranium mines and mills, and suspect sites. Relief from international sanctions will be "phased in over a period of time."
2015-03-02 00:00:00
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