So many concessions and goodies from the west, while Iran can probably resume uranium enrichment when it wants. :k:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13177731/
World powers compromise on Iran demands
Package gives Tehran leeway on uranium enrichment, diplomats say
World powers have compromised on a demand that Iran commit to a long-term moratorium on uranium enrichment and are asking only for suspension during talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, diplomats said Wednesday. In another concession, Iran would be allowed to carry out uranium conversion, a precursor to enrichment, if it agrees to multination talks, said the diplomats. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to divulge the contents of the offer made by six countries to Tehran Tuesday in a bid to defuse the Iranian nuclear standoff. Such changes to long-standing international demands on enrichment are important, because they signal possible readiness to accept some limited form of the activity, despite fears that it can be misused to make the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Since talks between key European nations and Iran broke off in August, the public stance by those nations and the United States has been that Iran must commit to a long-term moratorium on enrichment to establish confidence as a precondition for talks on the nuclear standoff.
Resignation to enrichment
Diplomats have told the AP that Germany, which participated in drawing up the six-nation package of perks and punishments meant to ultimately wean Iran off enrichment, has been advocating that Tehran be allowed such activity on a small scale. Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, has backed that view, arguing that, with Iran already successful in small-scale enrichment, it was unlikely to give up its right to such activities. Iran announced on April 11 that it had enriched uranium for the first time, using 164 centrifuges. Still, the country would need tens of thousands of centrifuges to produce adequate fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead, and those advocating that Iran be allowed to do research and development on enrichment say it is better to permit it an internationally supervised program on such a small scale and try to gain agreement from Tehran that it will not develop a large industrial program. Iran has said it intends to move toward large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006 and 54,000 centrifuges later, but it has also indicated it might suspend large-scale enrichment to ease tensions. In an April report, ElBaradei said Iran’s claim to have enriched small amounts to a level of 3.6 percent, fuel grade uranium as opposed to weapons grade enriched to levels above 90 percent, appeared to be true. It also said uranium conversion, an activity linked to enrichment, “is still ongoing,” adding that more than 110 metric tons, over 120 U.S. tons, have been converted over the past eight months. Were it used for weapons, that amount would be enough for more than 15 crude nuclear bombs, according to experts. The Iran package was approved last week in Vienna by The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany. While it has not been made public, some of its contents have been leaked, revealed major concessions by the United States meant to entice Iran to the negotiating table, among them an offer to join key European nations in providing some nuclear technology to Teheran if it stops enriching uranium, diplomats say.
