Iran, World Powers ‘Hit a Wall’ on Nuclear Talks – French FM

Iran, World Powers ‘Hit a Wall’ on Nuclear Talks – French FM. (RT).

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has told The Los Angeles Times that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have “hit a wall.” After four months of talks, the negotiators have only struck agreement on minor “technical points,” Fabius added.

An agreement on the scope of Iran’s future enrichment program has become a major issue of contention. Iran has installed some 19,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium, with some 10,000 in full operation. It wants to increase this number to at least 50,000, arguing that it needs the high numbers to produce enough fuel for Bushehr nuclear power reactor, for which the Russians have already provided the fuel for the next 10 years and are committed to continue doing so

The West wants to keep the number of centrifuges to only few thousands to prevent a rapid breakout capability by Iran. Fabius told the LA Times that the numbers should be “some hundreds” and not “hundreds of thousands,” as he says the Iranians want. That’s a wide gap to overcome before the 20 July expiration of the interim agreement, JPOA.