BICOM

US Secretary of State John Kerry indicated yesterday that full disclosure of Iran’s past nuclear development and activity would not be a condition of the nuclear deal under discussion, indicating another major US concession.

Iran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) agreed a framework for a comprehensive nuclear deal in April, paving the way for negotiations to begin towards a long-term accord, which must be agreed by the end of this month. However, both sides have since indicated differences over fundamental issues such as Iran’s use of advanced centrifuges, the pace of sanctions relief and provision for international inspections.

Another point of disagreement has been the insistence until now by US officials that Iran must answer a set of queries posed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the possible military dimension to Iran’s past nuclear activities. IAEA head Yukiya Amano has said that so far, Iran has answered just two of ten key questions on the issue.

However, speaking at yesterday’s US State Department media briefing, Kerry said “We’re not fixated on Iran specifically accounting for what they did at one point in time or another.” He explained, “We know what they did. We have no doubt… What we’re concerned about is going forward. It’s critical to us to know that going forward, those activities have been stopped, and that we can account for that in a legitimate way.” Kerry added that negotiations “remain tough” and that “Access remains very critical and has to be addressed.” Non-proliferation experts, however, have long argued that full disclosure by Iran is essential for ensuring the reliability of a future inspection regime.

Philip Hammond told the House of Commons last week: ““It is essential that, as part of the agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency can verify all Iran’s nuclear-related commitments, including through access to all relevant locations. We are not going to do a bad deal with Iran. Proper access is central to the deal we agreed in Lausanne and has to be delivered.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said yesterday that the nuclear negotiations might extend beyond the 30 June deadline, commenting “If we need a few extra days it’s not important because there are no sacred dates.”