US renews Iran sanctions waivers for civilian nuclear activities

The United States has renewed a series of sanctions waivers that will allow Iran and Russia to cooperate on civilian nuclear work at Iranian uranium enrichment sites, amid stalled talks to bring the Washington back into full compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

According to a non-public notification sent to US Congress and obtained by American political journalism website the Washington Free Beacon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken authorized the waivers on January 31, but Congress was not notified of the decision until late on February 3, after the Free Beacon began making inquiries about the exemptions.

The waivers permit Russian state corporations, such as the Rosatom nuclear company, to operate at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility.

Another waiver allows Iran to pay Russia to provide it with limited amounts of enriched uranium, which is used to power the Tehran-based research reactor – a light-water nuclear reactor given to Iran by the United States in 1967 to produce radio isotopes for medical and agricultural purposes.

Russia can also continue performing work at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran.

Tehran has continued to denounce Washington’s “paradoxical approach” in the course of talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal commonly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Their stances are negative, while their behavior and messages, sent via intermediaries, are something else,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said on December 26.

This comes as senior congressional sources have said the Biden administration is trying to sweep Iran sanctions waivers under the rug amid Western concerns about Tehran and Moscow’s military cooperation.

ME