Kerry: Uranium Enrichment Won’t Be Resolved in Iran Deal

Question of Iran's Rights Open Until Final Deal

Secretary of State John Kerry has confirmed that the upcoming interim deal on Iran’s nuclear program will not include any clause on the right to enrichment of uranium for civilian purposes. Rather, that will be left to a future, final deal.

That’s in keeping with what Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said earlier this week. He insisted there was no need to include any specific mention of civilian enrichment because it is “self-evident” from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Kerry isn’t taking that position exactly, however, and rather he argues that whether or not Iran has any rights at all will be left up to “future negotiations.”

Keeping the question open may be an effort to placate hawks who insist Iran doesn’t have any such rights about the interim deal, but with that pact designed to last only six months punting a controversial issue may make the final pact, supposedly the goal of all the talks, much harder to reach in a timely fashion.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.