US: Iran’s Arak Plant Construction Doesn’t Violate Deal

Media Claims of 'Violation' Untrue, US Confirms

A brief media-driven scandal emerged this morning amid reports of continued Iranian construction at the Arak heavy water reactor site, even though the deal made clear days ago that certain types of construction were allowed to continue at the site.

The deal only restricts Iran from working on the reactor itself, or adding fuel to the site for the next six months, and work on the rest of the site can continue without restriction. Despite this, there was a little “is Iran cheating” scandal for a few hours.

Then the US finally spoke up on the matter, pointing out that the construction Iran was talking about is exactly the kind that was permitted under the deal they signed last weekend.

People who were skeptical of the Iran deal were hoping for a quick chance to declare a violation, but analysts say that this is unlikely, because Iran wouldn’t have bothered to sign such a pact if it didn’t intend to stick to it for six months.

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.