IRAN may be on the brink of a historic deal. The country is entering the final stage of nuclear negotiations with the US and five other countries.
In 2002, Iran began escalating its uranium enrichment efforts, a necessary process for operating nuclear power plants, but also a step towards the production of nuclear warheads. Since then, sanctions and talks – between Iran, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – have built to a 24 November deadline set last year for a long-term agreement on what Iran will be able to do.
The US wants Iran to agree to a reduced capacity of enriching centrifuges, but Iran doesn't want to do this, and wants reassurance that it will be able to continue with its plans for nuclear power. Analysts suggest that sanctions against Iran will have to be lifted if a deal is to be struck.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Enriching Iran"
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