P5+1 eases nuclear demands on Iran, offers sanctions relief

P5+1 eases nuclear demands on Iran, offers sanctions relief:
A new proposal finalized during the Wednesday meeting in Almaty,Kazakhstan would require Iran to suspend - but not completely closedown - operations at its underground uranium enrichment facility inFordo. It would also create a set amount of 20-per-cent-enricheduranium for Iran to stockpile.
The offer marks a new turn in the long term of negotiationsbetween world powers and Iran, which previously had made starkdemands on the Islamic Republic. The P5+1 - the United States,Russia, France, Britain, China and Germany - are now only askingfor scaled down operations in Iran's nuclear program, which somegovernments allege is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb.
Iran would also now be able to keep enough enriched uranium toproduce medical isotopes at a research facility in Tehran.
The group asked Iran to allow International Atomic Energy Agencymonitors to visit its facilities more often in exchange for thesuspension of selected current sanctions and a moratorium on newones.
However, Hillary Mann Leverett, CEO of Strategic Energy andGlobal Analysis, a Washington-based political risk consultancy,told RT this part may be only an empty gesture.
"Everyone knows the United States has very little that it cangive on sanctions," she said. "President Obama essentiallyceded his foreign policy on this issue to the US Congress; almostall of those sanctions are written into US law. They are notsomething President Obama can give away."
In any case, the European Union's embargo on Iranian oil was notbrought up for negotiation at the meeting, though the P5+1 wouldreportedly consider easing restrictions on Iran's gold andpetrochemicals trades, as well as those on its banks.
But, after all, it may not matter in the long run, Mann Leveretttold RT. "There's not much the US can give on sanctions, and inthe meantime Iran is becoming more and more self-sufficient in arange of issues so that it's not vulnerable to suchsanctions."
Said Jalili, Iran's chief negotiator at the meetings, called thetalks "positive" in comments to the press in Almaty. Headded that some of the offers coming from Western governmentslooked “more realistic than those presented in the past and madean effort to approach the positions of Iran.”
Mann Leverett explained what Jalili might have been getting at:"The critical issue for the Iranians, and I think this is wherethey perceived a slight - and I stress slight - movement on the USside, is in the recognition of their rights: their sovereign andtheir treaty-based rights to enrich uranium."
Jalili stressed that Tehran saw "no justification" forshutting down the Fordo facility.
Next, Iranian and EU officials are set to meet in Istanbul onMarch 18 for negotations that will include experts on nucleartechnology.