Reuters: Secret Exemptions Granted to Iran by 1+5 After Nuclear Agreement

On Thursday, September 2, Reuters reported in an exclusive that the members of the 1+5 group have agreed to grant "secret" exemptions to Iran to avoid violating the January 16 deadline for the start of lifting economic sanctions. January 16, 2016, corresponds to the official start date of the implementation of the historic nuclear agreement of the Islamic Republic with the 1+5 group, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the beginning of the lifting of sanctions against Tehran. Reuters based this news on a new report prepared by the "Institute for Science and International Security" based in Washington, which is set to be unveiled in the city shortly. According to the news agency, David Albright, the director of this institute and one of the authors of the new report, who is himself a former UN weapons inspector, stated that the report was based on information from "a number of government officials involved in the nuclear negotiations" with Iran. Mr. Albright refrained from naming these government officials, and Reuters could not independently confirm and verify the claims in this report. However, David Albright emphasized that the mentioned exemptions were granted "secretly and confidentially" and that "the exemptions apparently benefit Iran." The report from the Institute for Science and International Security refers to statements from a "senior informed official" indicating that if the Joint Commission of the JCPOA had not granted these exemptions to Iran, "some of Iran's nuclear facilities" would not have been ready for the implementation of the nuclear agreement by January 16. In other words, some of Iran's nuclear facilities would not have complied with the provisions of the JCPOA by the deadline for countries to implement the JCPOA and subsequently lift sanctions. The Joint Commission of the JCPOA consists of representatives from the member countries of the 1+5 group plus Iran, and its role is to oversee the proper and precise implementation of the nuclear agreement. The exemptions mentioned in the new report were also "approved" by this Joint Commission. According to the new report, based on two of these exemptions, Iran has been allowed to keep more low-enriched uranium in its facilities than what was stipulated in the agreement. Under the nuclear agreement, Iran is allowed to keep only 300 kilograms of 3.5% low-enriched uranium in its stocks. However, the new report claims that the Joint Commission has allowed Iran to store "unspecified amounts" of this type of uranium, and this ambiguity has raised concerns among experts. This point was previously noted by the Russian representative at the Atomic Energy Agency. According to the report from the Institute for Science and International Security, the Obama administration informed the U.S. Congress of the existence of these exemptions on the same day, January 16, in confidential documents. In this context, an unnamed White House official stated that Congress is "permanently and comprehensively" kept informed of the work of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA. However, Reuters quoted Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat and opponent of the JCPOA, as saying that this senior Senate official was unaware of the existence of these exemptions. Perhaps from this senior senator's reaction, one can infer that the publication of the new report on exemptions granted to the Islamic Republic will anger American critics of the JCPOA and once again make criticism of the nuclear agreement with Iran a topical issue. Previously, 15 Democratic senators had written a letter to Barack Obama, the President of the United States, demanding greater transparency regarding the oversight of international inspectors over Iran's nuclear program and the implementation of its commitments under the Vienna nuclear agreement.