US Media: European Plan to Lengthen Iran's Breakout Time
The Wall Street Journal published an article saying that European officials have proposed a three-pronged approach to lengthen Iran's breakout time, pointing out that Iran insisted it won't allow any of its more advanced centrifuges to be destroyed.
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The Vienna Talks
The Wall Street Journal has published an article stating that "European officials have proposed a new three-pronged approach" to prevent it from a speedy return to its nuclear activities.
It also said that the European officials, "in addition to keeping advanced centrifuges in storage and under seal, they want Iran to rip out the electronic infrastructure it is currently using."
The paper did not specify whether the European offer was given to Iran in the context of the Vienna talks, but people involved in the talks have relayed that "Iran has insisted it won't allow any of its more advanced centrifuges to be destroyed."
Iran's breakout time is a Western term used to point out the time needed to assemble the nuclear material to build a nuclear bomb. The US says that with the restrictions imposed on Iran by the JCPOA, the breakout time had reached one year.
Iran has on numerous occasions denied Western claims that it is out to develop nuclear weapons. As an NPT and IAEA member, Iran has emphasized that it has a right to own nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
IAEA inspectors have visited Iranian nuclear facilities several times but found no evidence that the country's peaceful nuclear program veered towards militarization.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh stated on July 12 that "given the progress that has been made, it can be assessed that all sides are nearing the end of the Vienna talks."
The Austrian capital of Vienna is hosting JCPOA committee meetings since April in an attempt to revive the deal, which was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5_1 (US, Russia, China, UK, France + Germany.)
