![](https://www.nextias.com/ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/3534244ni.png)
In News
- Iran’s atomic agency said that its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium has reached over 210 kilograms.
- It is the latest defiant move ahead of upcoming nuclear talks with the West.
Uranium as a Fuel
- Nuclear fuel is mined from naturally occurring uranium ore deposits and then isolated through chemical reactions and separation processes.
- Natural uranium consists of two different isotopes:
- nearly 99% U-238 and
- only around 0.72% of U-235.
- U-238 is not fissile, thus the concentration of U-235 must be increased before it can be effectively used as a nuclear fuel.
- U-235 being a fissile material sustains a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor.
- Uranium enrichment is a process that creates an effective nuclear fuel out of mined uranium by increasing the percentage of uranium-235.
- Enrichment process basically increases the proportion of U-235 through the process of isotope separation (U-238 is separated from U-235).
- For nuclear Weapons
- Highly Enriched Uranium or weapons-grade uranium
- For which enrichment is required up to 90% or more.
- For Nuclear Reactor
- Low Enriched Uranium or reactor-grade uranium
- Enrichment is required upto 3-4% only.
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
- Also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.
- The JCPOA was the result of prolonged negotiations from 2013 and 2015 between Iran and the P5+1
- China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU.
- The deal promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme, and is meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.
- Iran committed to drastically reduce its stockpiles of weapon grade Uranium, including centrifuges, enriched uranium, and heavy water.
- Iran was not meant to enrich uranium above 3.67% which was meant to fulfill its energy requirement.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was instrumental in enforcing the agreement by monitoring Iran and conducting inspections.
- The U.S. unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 but Britain, France, Germany,China and Russia have tried to preserve the accord
Iran’s Maximum Resistance
- Tensions rose after the U.S. pushed unilateral sanctions, widening its scope to cover nearly all Iranian banks connected to the global financial system.
- Earlier Iran’s response was muted as the E-3 (France, Germany, the U.K.) and the EU promised to find ways to mitigate the U.S. decision.
- The E-3’s in 2019 created Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), to facilitate trade with Iran.
- However, the anticipated economic relief failed to materialize, thus pushing Iran’s strategic patience.
- Tehran thus shifted to a strategy of ‘maximum resistance’.
- Thereafter, Iran has been steadily breaking its commitments to pressurise the remaining signatories to find a way to provide sanctions relief.
- Iran has produced 25 kg 60% enriched uranium.
- A level that only countries with nuclear weapons have the physical capabilities to produce.
India-Iran relations
- Regional Connectivity:
- Removing sanctions will rekindle India’s interest in the Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports.
- India’s interest in the International North-South Transit Corridor (INSTC), which runs through Iran,
- will improve connectivity with five Central Asian republics will also get a boost.
- Indian Ocean Security:
- This would assist India in neutralising China’s footprint in Pakistan’s Gwadar port.
- Also, will help counter China’s alleged String of Pearls Policy.
- Energy Security:
- Due to the US’ Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), India has to bring down oil imports to zero.
- Re-establishment of links between the US and Iran will help India to procure cheap Iranian oil and aid in energy security.
Way Forward
- After months of delays, the European Union, Iran and the U.S. will go for indirect talks to resuscitate the deal.
- Continuous Dialogue:
- All countries part of the 2015 deal should engage constructively and resolve all issues peacefully and through dialogue.
- Peaceful Globe:
- Both the USA and Iran must act with strategic restraint as any crisis in West Asia will not only affect the region as a whole
- but will have a detrimental impact on global affairs as well.
- In the words of General Omar Bradley,
- Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
- We know more about war than about peace, more about killing than living.
- We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the sermon on the mount.
Source: TH
Previous article
SCO’s Protocol on Trafficking
Next article
Kaho Village