Iranian officials smug about snookering the West in atomic agreement

Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym of a former member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who defected.  Here's his take on a recent speech by Iran's foreign minister on the deal the U.S. just made with Iran--after Team Obama had initially denied there was any deal.

Last Wednesday, in a report to Iran's parliament, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called America’s assertions about the interim nuclear agreement reached recently in Geneva “nonsense” and said Iran’s strategy will collapse the sanctions program.

President Obama praised the agreement as securing “substantial limitations” on Iran’s nuclear activities, but Zarif said Iran can easily reverse any enrichment limitations.

Zarif implied that he'd deceived the Obama administration and the "5+1" group of nations (the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany).

Zarif said there is nothing in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that limits the right of all parties to research, produce and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. An inalienable right is an inherent and undeniable right that no one can take away… American claims are nonsense.”

Zarif told the members of parliament that the regime’s goal is to remove U.N. sanctions, which would then prevent the U.S. and the European Union from enforcing their own sanctions.

“I promise you, the moment the U.N. Security Council sanctions are lifted, all other U.S. sanctions will be nothing but scrap paper,” he said.

Zarif said Iran got everything it needed in the Nov. 24 agreement while the West got little.  He said the regime would only need one day to resume 20 percent enrichment, which is well on the way to weapons-grade uranium.

“Instead of producing 20 percent we will be producing 5 percent uranium,” he said. “The connection between two cascades, which...if connected produces 20 percent, will be [disconnected]. It’s been said that in less than one day, [the connection can be re-opened.]  Americans talk nonsense.”

Under the agreement reached in November Iran will get billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for agreeing not to enrich uranium past the 5 percent level for six months.  Iran also agreed to allow "more intrusive inspections" of its nuclear plants by the International Atomic Energy Agency, though these will be limited to only agreed facilities.

As reported in September, Iran's president was videotaped talking about how he had deceived the West when he served as the nation's nuclear negotiator in 2003.  He claimed he was able to prevent harsher sanctions from being imposed while drastically expanding Iran's nuclear program.

Despite over a decade of sanctions the Islamic regime has over 19,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges and over 10 tons of enriched uranium, sufficient for several nuclear bombs if it decides to enrich further.