Russia's Role in Implementing Nuclear Agreement Provisions

According to the comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran, Russia will participate in two areas: the removal of Iran's enriched uranium and the repurposing of the Fordow nuclear facility. However, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister states that the specifics of this participation are not yet clear. At the same time, he noted that Russia would not incur any costs for these plans. Sergey Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, who presented a detailed report on the comprehensive agreement between the 1+5 group and Iran at the Pirsenter Political Club in Moscow, mentioned that Russia will play an active role in the implementation of this agreement in two areas: the transfer of Iran's enriched uranium to Russia in exchange for the export of raw uranium to this country and the transformation of the Fordow nuclear facility into a center for the production of medical and industrial isotopes. He pointed out that there is currently no contract in this regard but expressed confidence that negotiations to establish a clear approach for advancing cooperation in these two areas would begin after the Security Council resolution is approved. He also added that these plans are commercial, and while it is unlikely to be a source of income for Russia, there will be no costs incurred from the Russian budget, and negotiators have a difficult task to find a way for these plans to be self-sufficient. He stated that the Russian Foreign Ministry, Rosatom, and other government agencies hope that negotiations in this area will yield results very soon. Vladimir Zurov, an international affairs expert in Moscow, says that control over Iran's nuclear domain is a privilege that global powers have given to align Russia with the West: 'Russia's relations with Iran underwent fundamental changes after tensions arose between Russia and the West, and Moscow even threatened the West that it would back global powers in nuclear negotiations, and throughout the negotiations, we saw how Russia's approach challenged both sides. It is not unlikely that continued special cooperation in the nuclear field with Iran was a reward for Russia, and Iran was then advised to accept these proposals.' Sergey Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, who was discussing the 1+5 agreement with experts at the Pirsenter analytical center in Moscow, stated that the enriched uranium from Iran that will be sent to Russia will likely be stored at the Angarsk International Enriched Uranium Center. This center, known as the first nuclear fuel bank, is a project that Russia carried out in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency from 2007 to 2010, and Russian officials have repeatedly stated that this project was more political than economic, and many experts considered this move by Russia a practical step toward resolving Iran's nuclear dispute. Yevgeny Buzhinsky, an expert at the Pirsenter center in Moscow, says that Russia's goals are finally coming to fruition: 'The main goal of Russia in creating this plan was to provide an opportunity for Iran to emerge honorably from the crisis it had been caught in for years. Iran rejected this opportunity until it accepted it years later. And now we clearly see how this practically political plan not only increased Russia's credibility but is also expected to bring financial benefits for us. I hope that no problems arise in the implementation of this plan and that Iran ultimately becomes a partner in the Russian and IAEA plan.' The 1+5 group and Iran announced last Tuesday that they had reached an agreement under which sanctions against Iran would be lifted, and in return, Iran would limit its nuclear program to the extent that it would not be able to produce nuclear weapons. On Monday, the UN Security Council issued a resolution to endorse this agreement.