Iran abides by interim nuclear deal
By Sara Rajabova
The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed Iran’s commitment to an interim nuclear deal it signed with the P5+1 group in 2013, i.e. enrichment is maintained at a level of 5 percent.
The monthly update report by the IAEA indicated that the Islamic country had not made "any further advances" in its activities at the country’s enrichment facilities and at Arak heavy water reactor, Press TV reported.
The December 19 report noted that Tehran’s uranium enrichment did not exceed a fissile concentration of five percent, adding that it does not develop an enrichment plant and heavy-water reactor.
On November 25, Iran "temporarily stopped the operations for conversion and fuel manufacturing" at a facility that was checked by the agency from December 14 to 16, the report added.
IAEA report comes after the recent negotiations between the representatives from Iran and P5+1 countries. During the discussions, which began on December 15, deputy foreign ministers and experts from Iran sat down for bilateral nuclear talks with delegations from the U.S., France, Russia, and China separately.
U.S. State Department official Jen Psaki said the next round of negotiations between six world powers and Iran will be held in mid-January, but the exact date has not yet been agreed upon, RIA Novosti reported.
Earlier, it was reported that the talks of "six" and Iran at the level of political directors will be held until January 20, 2015.
Despite making progress, Iran and the P5+1 group failed to clinch a final nuclear deal during their previous talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
However, the two sides agreed to extend their discussions for other seven months until July 1, 2015. They also agreed that the interim deal they had signed in Geneva last November remain in place during the negotiations.
Under the Geneva deal, dubbed the Joint Plan of Action, the six countries undertook to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for the Islamic Republic agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period.
As part of the interim deal, Iran suspended 20-percent uranium enrichment as of January 20 when the agreement came into force. Iran then started to dilute and oxidize its 196-kg stockpile of 20-percent-enriched uranium.
The U.S. and EU imposed sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors at the beginning of 2012 due to claims of potential deviation toward non-civilian purposes in Iran's nuclear energy program. Iran has repeatedly denied the Western allegations against its nuclear energy program.