Russia Announces Exchange of Iran's Enriched Uranium This Month

The Russian representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that Moscow expects the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers to be implemented starting in January - next month - and that the exchange of Iran's enriched uranium for its non-enriched counterpart by Russia will take place by the end of this calendar year. Under the Vienna agreement signed on July 14 of this year, Iran agreed to halt many of its nuclear activities, including the exchange of its enriched uranium for non-enriched uranium. Vladimir Voronkov, Russia's representative at the IAEA, told reporters in Vienna on Monday, December 7, that this exchange would occur before the end of the current calendar year. Tehran has officially stated that fulfilling its commitments is contingent upon a positive report from the agency on December 15 and the closure of its past nuclear file known as 'PMD', which the agency claims is suspicious of military research. According to Reuters, the Russian representative at the agency, after meeting with counterparts from the US, China, France, Britain, Germany, the European Union, and Iran, expressed hope that the draft resolution of the Board of Governors would be distributed among all members before the end of the day on Monday. Mr. Voronkov emphasized that the five permanent members of the Security Council, along with Germany, which form the P5+1 group, will support the Board of Governors' resolution. Additionally, according to the Itar-Tass news agency, the Russian representative stated that the mentioned resolution will be approved by the members of the Board of Governors as there are no signs of opposition to it. He added that everyone wants the day of the implementation of the Vienna agreement to arrive as soon as possible. There is almost no disagreement on this issue; everything is in place, and the draft of this resolution only needs to be polished. When asked about Iran's satisfaction with the draft resolution, the Russian representative replied that Iran seems to be satisfied with it. The agency's report on the past of Iran's nuclear program, published last week, strongly indicated that Tehran had conducted military-nuclear research before 2003. Reuters writes that, however, Western diplomats are not concerned about this issue. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, criticized this part of the agency's report, stating that Iran does not accept and rejects it, 'but the final assessment is clear.' He, who was in Vienna to participate in the joint meeting of Iran and the P5+1, told the IRNA news agency on Sunday night: 'A decision will be made in the Board of Governors' resolution regarding whether the file will be closed or not. In any case, it does not belong in the report; it is in the Board of Governors' resolution.' Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, also called parts of Yukiya Amano's report 'unacceptable' on Monday. According to the Tasnim news agency, he stated: 'Although this report is incomplete, unacceptable, and rejected in some respects, certain sections explicitly demonstrate the invalidity of the claims and accusations made by some countries over the past 11 years while confirming the non-diversion of the Islamic Republic's peaceful nuclear program.' In this context, the negotiations of Araghchi and Rouhani with Schmidt in Vienna regarding the Board of Governors of the agency accept Amano's report. Iran objected to the 'negative points' of the recent IAEA report. Kerry stated: 'We have never had any doubt about Iran's past nuclear activities.' The US stated that Iran has cooperated with the agency and is ready for the next step. Iran welcomed the agency's report: 'Now the only way is to close the file.' The final report of the agency on Iran's past nuclear activities was presented.