The U.S. and its negotiating partners agreed “in secret” to allow Iran to evade some restrictions in last year’s landmark nuclear agreement in order to meet the deadline for it to start getting relief from economic sanctions, according to a report reviewed by Reuters.
The report was to be published on Thursday by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, said the think-tank’s president David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector and co-author of the report. It is based on information provided by several officials of governments involved in the negotiations, who Mr. Albright declined to identify. Reuters could not independently verify the report’s assertions.
“The exemptions or loopholes are happening in secret, and it appears that they favour Iran,” Mr. Albright said. Among the exemptions was one that allowed Iran to exceed the deal’s limits on how much low-enriched uranium (LEU) it can keep in its nuclear facilities, the report said. LEU can be purified into highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium.
The exemptions, the report said, were approved by the joint commission the deal created to oversee implementation of the accord. The commission is comprised the U.S. and its negotiating partners.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the joint commission and its role were “not secret”. The official did not address the report’s assertions of exemptions. — Reuters
