There has been much jubilation about the US-Iran agreement, called the Lausanne deal, that came about in Switzerland this Thursday.
But what is everyone happy about and what are the details of this deal?
According to a U.S. fact sheet, there are four main areas that the deal touches upon:
1. Centrifuge Size
According to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on February 19, Iran had around 19,500 installed centrifuges of which it was operating around 10,200.
Centrifuges are machines used to purify or ‘enrich’ uranium to various levels of purity.
By the end of Thursday’s talks, Iran agreed it will operate only around 5,000 centrifuges of the so called IR-1 model, which is less than half of its current capacity.
2. Grade of the Uranium Stockpile
Since a 2013 accord with the six powers, Iran has stopped enriching uranium above 5% purity. No material of a higher grade than this is normally used in nuclear power plants.
It has further ‘downblended’ its 20 % enriched uranium stockpile.
‘Downblending’ is a process opposite to that of enrichment where enriched uranium is mixed with lower-grade uranium to lower its purity.
Western countries see the step from 20% to 90% purity, the level needed for a bomb, as a relatively small one.
So, Iran’s agreement to downblend has been a welcome step.
Experts say a bomb needs at least 25 kg of 90% enriched uranium, or 250 kg of 20% enriched uranium.
Also, Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium of 3.67% purification is to be cut to 300 kg from the present stockpile of 10,000 kg, according to the United States.
3. ‘Breakout’ Time
Under the deal, Iran’s ‘breakout’ time - the time Iran would need to acquire enough fissile material for one weapon - would be extended to at least one year. The U.S. fact sheet says that at the present moment it is thought to be two to three months.
4. Monitoring by International Atomic Energy Agency
Crucially, all this will have to be monitored and verified by the Vienna-based IAEA. The degree to which Iran improves cooperation with the U.N. agency will be vital for measuring the success of a deal.
The agency now has around four to eight people in Iran at any one time. They inspect declared facilities, monitor video surveillance footage and can seal uranium canisters.
Under the Lausanne deal, Iran agreed to allow the agency more intrusive access to its declared and, crucially, undeclared sites and inform it of its nuclear construction plans.
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