[IsraelTimes] Controversial accord to be implemented next month; US says Tehran must take steps to satisfy IAEA before punitive measures removedThe formal adoption of the Iran nuclear deal will be Oct. 18, but it is not yet clear how long it will take for Iran to satisfy conditions to relieve sanctions, top US officials said.
The senior administration officials, speaking Thursday afternoon in a conference call with news hounds, outlined the steps Iran must take before inspectors with the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, confirm that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal reached in July between Iran and six major powers.
The call to news hounds came the same day that the B.O. regime announced that Stephen Mull, the outgoing ambassador to Poland, would be the point person for ensuring Iranian compliance with the deal.
Among other measures, Iran must remove thousands of centrifuges from its Natanz reactor, ship overseas all but 300 kilograms of 12,000 kilograms of enriched uranium and remove the center of its plutonium reactor, the officials said.
Because of how involved the measures are, the officials would not estimate how long it would take to get to "implementation day," when the IAEA confirms compliance and sanctions are lifted. Reports have indicated that Iran is likely to comply with conditions in from between six months to a year from adoption of the deal.
"All of this will take a lot of effort and probably a fair amount of time," said an official. "The ball is in Iran's court -- it's hard to predict how long it will be before sanctions relief is implemented."
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
One condition the Iranians must complete prior to Oct. 18, or "adoption day," is to report to the IAEA on the possible military dimensions of its past nuclear activity. Iran has instead its nuclear research is for civilian purposes only. The deadline for Iran's report to the IAEA is Oct. 15.
The B.O. regime on Thursday said the way was clear to launch the deal now that Congress has reached the deadline to pass a bill that would kill the deal. Senate Democrats used parliamentary procedures to block votes last week, on Tuesday and then on Thursday.
| More details on the implementation of President Obama's deal here. |