According to a top EU official familiar with the details, western nations are prepared to offer a deal on the settlement of their long-standing complaints on Iran’s nuclear program that would allow the nation to continue enrichment of uranium to civilian use levels.
US officials have repeatedly presented ending civilian enrichment as a primary demand, but Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says that his understanding is that Iran can continue the program if they agree to some other concessions that will convince western nations of the program’s continued civilian nature.
On the one hand, that’s pretty easy, as weapons grade uranium is over 90 percent, whereas Iran’s enrichment has never gone beyond 20 percent, and is increasingly focused on 3.5 percent, well below theoretical military use levels. At the same time, the “uncertainty” around Iran’s program is mostly supposition not based on anything, and it isn’t clear how people who aren’t convinced already of Iran’s enrichment being for civilian purposes, when materially all of its enriched uranium is being directly used for civilian purposes, can ever be convinced.
The deal, if confirmed, will also enrage Israel even further, since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Iran cannot be allowed to keep any of its civilian program, let alone the enrichment portion, and has demanded that Iran be forced to surrender every bit of its uranium stockpile to the international community.
90%, 20%, 3.5% of what?
Uranium enrichment levels are given as a percentage of the isotope U-235 (the highly radioactive form) in the material. The remainder is the much more stable and less active isotope U-238 Those three levels you recite are important for different reasons. 3,5% is the minimum enrichment level necessary for fuel for nuclear reactors. 20% is the grade used both directly for medical purposes and for the manufacture of other medical radionucleoties. 90%, and actually more like 95% U-235 is the level of enrichment necessary to create a nuclear weapon from uranium.
Thank you! i wonder how many pundits who recite these percentages know this.
If they haven’t gone over the 20 percent, what else is there to convinced the west that the program is peaceful? Guess I should ask AIPAC that question.
Western corporate mainstream media, all owned by the corporate rich, they keep on claiming to be mind readers, but surely the Western powers are not “concerned that Iran may be building nuclear weapons,” but to the contrary.
I think after Syria the powers that be (or was) have hit their threshold for resistance from ordinary folks. It can get very nasty very fast for them.
Iran is a signatory to the NPT and has every right under that treaty to nuclear development, and has no nuclear weapons.
Guess which country is NOT a signatory to the NPT, HAS nuclear weapons and is screamiing, demanding Iran end its peaceful nuclear program?
3 guesses and the als t two dont' count………..
I'll believe it when I hear OBAMA say it. Until then, who cares what Lithuania says?
Please, the Pollyanna stuff flowing out over the last couple weeks has been embarrassing. Until an actual deal is ANNOUNCED and CONFIRMED, THERE IS NO DEAL!
Do people really believe that Obama, despite over four years of lies and double-dealing with regard to Iran and the Middle East in general, is suddenly prepared to stand up to the MIC, the oil companies, and AIPAC?
Oh, please…
Finally a bit of commonsense IF IT HAPPENS.