'Confidential' Document Reveals Iran's Nuclear Intentions
JERUSALEM, Israel – A "confidential" document that's part of the Iranian nuclear deal signed last July confirms that "key restrictions" on uranium enrichment will lift years before the accord expires.
The document states that Iran may begin replacing centrifuges with those capable of enriching uranium to levels sufficient for nuclear weapons production earlier than the agreement specifies.
Two senior diplomats familiar with the document, speaking on condition of anonymity, affirmed its authenticity to The Associated Press last week.
According to the report, Iran submitted the additional document to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for approval with the stipulation that its contents not be disclosed to the public.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization who represented Iran during the negotiations, said there was no need for the public to know about Iran's long-term plans for its nuclear program.
"We do not intend to make this plan known to the public and IAEA's action is a breach of promise," Salehi said.
Iran filed a protest with the IAEA over the leaked document.
"Our assumption is that it has been leaked by the agency [IAEA]," Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said. The document's contents, he said, were "confidential and were supposed to remain so."
But AP's sources called it an "integral part" of the agreement signed last year with the P5+1 (the permanent U.N. Security Council members: the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China), plus Germany.
David Albright, with the D.C.-based Institute for Science and International Security, says the plan detailed in the document "will create a great deal of instability and possible even lead to war if regional tensions have not subsided," AP reported.
Iran continually says its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful uses, but its oft-repeated threats against Israel and the United States, coupled with its advanced ballistic missile program, belie that statement.
