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US says Iran nuclear inspections must continue
By Andrew BEATTY
Washington (AFP) May 11, 2018

Putin, Merkel reaffirm commitment to Iran nuclear deal: Kremlin
Moscow (AFP) May 11, 2018 - Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation Friday reaffirmed their commitment to preserving the Iran nuclear deal after the US pulled out of it, the Kremlin said.

"The situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action following the unilateral withdrawal of the US was discussed. The importance of preserving the deal from a point of view of international and regional stability was highlighted," the Kremlin said in a statement following the call.

The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria as well as Merkel's planned working visit to Russia next week, the Kremlin said.

US President Donald Trump this week defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would withdraw from the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran.

Merkel has previously said Germany and its European partners would "do everything" to ensure Iran remains in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, while Putin has voiced "deep concern" at the US decision.

The Russian president also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier Friday, with the pair saying Trump was "wrong" to pull out of the accord, according to a Turkish presidential source.

After long negotiations, Iran agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions.

The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.

The White House wants intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear sites to continue despite President Donald Trump's withdrawal from a landmark accord on Tehran's atomic program, US officials have told AFP.

Days after the US president walked away from a three-year-old deal that mandated rigorous scrutiny of Iranian facilities, senior administration officials said monitoring should continue regardless.

Known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal between Tehran and major world powers forces Iran to open any site to inspectors within 24 days at most and introduced 24-hour remote surveillance at some sites.

Supporters of the Obama-era accord argue it provided "the world's most robust" monitoring regime, allowing access to the Islamic republic's most sensitive nuclear sites.

Speaking at a rally in Indiana on Thursday Trump said tough inspections were still needed.

"We must be able to go to a site and check that site. We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not they're cheating," he said.

The White House is demanding the existing inspection regime, however imperfect, continue under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog.

"We expect Iran will continue to implement the Additional Protocol and cooperate with the IAEA whether or not the JCPOA remains in place," one senior administration official said.

A second official confirmed to AFP on Thursday that Washington still wanted the inspections.

Other signatories to the Iran deal -- including Tehran, China and European powers -- have vowed to press ahead with the agreement's implementation.

But officials are privately skeptical about how long it can survive, particularly if the United States imposes sanctions on European companies doing business in Iran.

And non-proliferation experts have warned that a vital window into Iran's nuclear activities could be lost.

"If the agreement collapses, Iran is under no obligation to implement any of these provisions, either the Additional Protocol or the deal-specific measures," said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association.

"The nuclear deal with Iran put the country's program under a microscope," she told AFP, saying the measures serve as "an early warning system that will set off alarm bells if Iran tries to cheat on its commitments or conduct illicit activities."

- Are inspections effective? -

Since the nuclear accord was reached in 2015, the IAEA has carried out hundreds of inspections inside Iran.

That includes monitoring at Fordo, an underground fuel enrichment plant inside a base used by Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The JCPOA adds an extra layer of scrutiny not found in existing accords, including monitoring of mines and restrictions on multi-point detonation systems and nuclear computer simulations.

The IAEA has so far confirmed that Iran is adhering to its "nuclear-related commitments," although the US administration questions that conclusion.

"You cannot say that Iran is in compliance unless you are 100 percent certain that the IAEA and our intelligence are infallible," said US national security advisor John Bolton.

That approach has left some questioning why the administration wants monitoring to continue at all.

"If they don't trust the inspections, I don't know why they would be strongly encouraging Iran to comply," said Corey Hinderstein, a fuel cycle expert who previously worked on implementation of the deal at the Department of Energy.

"The fact is the inspections are and have been effective," she said.

American citizens are working on the IAEA inspection team, but are based in Vienna, not on the ground in Iran.

Hinderstein said there is every indication that the US is preparing to pull out of other non-inspection mechanisms in the agreement, including converting the Arak heavy water reactor and the "procurement channel" that regulates the import of dual use materials to Iran.

Trump has described the agreement as "the worst deal in history" and vowed to renegotiate it.

He has also warned that Iran will be punished if it returns to military-scale uranium enrichment.

"If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger problems than it has ever had before," Trump said.


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NUKEWARS
Europeans will 'do everything' to protect companies in Iran
Paris (AFP) May 9, 2018
European officials will "do everything" possible to protect the interests of companies working in Iran, which may now be exposed to new US sanctions against the country, an official in the French presidency said Wednesday. Following President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions, European governments are going "to do everything to protect the interests" of their companies, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. French diplo ... read more

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