Parasiliti, Andrew

Abstract
There could yet be a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme between Iran and the P5+1 (the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany; led in talks by the EU). The endgame, however, needs to be transparent: a comprehensive package that includes sanctions relief in return for Iran’s closing the nuclear file. Diplomacy with Iran should be seen as a process, with benchmarks and objectives, like any other high-stakes negotiation. These benchmarks would include a compromise on Iran’s right to enrichment; agreement on the latest fuel-swap proposal; a strategic pause in both Iranian enrichment and further sanctions; Iran’s involvement in regional security dialogue, including on Syria; and sanctions relief as a clear outcome for Iranian cooperation.
Iran’s right to enrich uranium should not be a deal breaker for the nuclear negotiations. It has been blown out of proportion by both sides. The P5+1 should acknowledge Iran’s right to enrichment in the context of its right to peaceful nuclear energy as a signatory to the NPT  Non-prolifearation Treaty) and also recognise Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatwa against the development or use of nuclear weapons as a positive statement of policy. A compromise on enrichment should be conditioned by Iran’s acceptance of the Baghdad proposal as the first confidence-building benchmark for negotiations. Iran’s enrichment programme is an ace in the hole for either sanctions relief or a nuclear-weapon option.
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