Freeze Construction Work at Arak – Jeffrey Lewis
(Daily Alert)

The Iranians committed not to bring the Arak plutonium reactor online during the interim agreement. They could, however, continue to install equipment at Arak and manufacture fuel for the reactor, bringing it to the brink of operation during negotiations. In other words, the draft agreement would allow Iran to do everything it planned at Arak over the next six months.

In 2004, Hassan Rouhani negotiated the “Paris Agreement” with the E3, under which the Iranians agreed to suspend their conversion and enrichment of uranium for a few months, while talks continued. In fact, Iran continued installing equipment at its Isfahan conversion facility. The writer is director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.(Foreign Policy)