Tehran will conduct cold tests on its modernized nuclear reactor in Arak ahead of its full commissioning later this year, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said.

A spokesman for the organization, Behruz Kamalwandi, quoted by Reuters as citing local media, said the cold tests, which usually include the initial start-up of fluid systems and auxiliary systems, will take place at the start of the Iranian New Year on March 21.

“In other words, we have advanced the work on fuel, storage and so on,” Kamalvandi said.

We will remind, Iran agreed to shutdown the reactor in Arak, located about 250 km south-west of Tehran, as part of the 2015 deal.

The Islamic Republic was allowed to produce a limited amount of heavy water, and Tehran worked to redesign the facility.

Iran says it plans to produce isotopes for use in medicine and agriculture.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an interview with the American publication Politico called on Washington to return to the implementation of the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA).

The minister recalled that after signing the document in 2015, Iran fulfilled its obligations, which was confirmed by the IAEA.

The Republic continued to adhere to these conditions, but in 2018 the Donald Trump administration unilaterally left the deal.

“Now, if the US wants to get back to the deal, let it stick to the same order we started with.

They have to go back to compliance.

When the US moves to compliance, then Iran will also comply (the terms of the agreement. - 

RT

), "Zarif said.

  • Javad Zarif

  • © REUTERS / Khalid al-Mousily

He also clarified Tehran's position regarding negotiations with Washington on a nuclear deal.

“So why don't we speak?

We do not speak because there is nothing to talk about.

We have an agreement, we talked about this agreement with the very people who are now in the White House, with the very people who are now in the State Department, ”the minister said.

"Window for negotiations"

Let us recall that preparation for tests in Arak is not the first step of Iran in the nuclear sphere in recent years.

In early February, Iran's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Kazem Garib Abadi, announced the launch of new high-capacity centrifuges at the Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz.

“Thanks to our conscientious nuclear scientists, Natanz now successfully operates

two cascades of 348 IR6 centrifuges

with UF6 (uranium hexafluoride -

RT

), which are almost four times more powerful (centrifuges -

RT

) IR1.

Also: installation of two cascades of IR3 centrifuges began in Fordow.

More coming soon, ”the Iranian diplomat wrote on Twitter.

He added that "the IAEA is still able to carry out an inspection and is regularly informed about the progress of the work."

Thanks to our diligent nuclear scientists, two cascades of 348 IR2m centrifuges with almost 4 times the capacity of IR1 are now running with UF6 successfully in Natanz.

Installation of 2 cascades of IR6 centrifuges has also been started in Fordow.

There's more to come soon.

- Gharibabadi (@Gharibabadi) February 2, 2021

In early March, Reuters, citing a confidential IAEA report, reported that Iran had begun enriching uranium at an underground plant in Natanz.

This information aroused concern in Moscow, as stated by the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov.

The diplomat noted that the Russian Federation calls on all parties to "show restraint."

At the same time, he stressed that Washington is expanding sanctions against Tehran instead of lifting them.

“Accordingly, the Iranian policy of gradually curtailing the fulfillment of its voluntary commitments under the JCPOA also continues, and the scale of Iranian nuclear activities is expanding,” Ryabkov added.

  • The foreign ministers of France, Germany, the European Union, Iran, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as Chinese and Russian diplomats.

    Lausanne, 2 April 2015

  • © Wikimedia

According to experts, having announced the launch of new centrifuges, Tehran nevertheless acts rather restrainedly. 

"Tehran's caution, accuracy, unwillingness to provoke an international conflict, and at the same time to respond to Washington's actions now determine its policy," Irina Fedorova, senior researcher at the Center for Near and Middle East at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT.

According to her, this is confirmed by the fact that Iran, on the one hand, withdrew from the additional protocol on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and on the other hand, has pledged to fulfill the conditions of the NPT for now.

Thus, Tehran leaves "an open window for negotiations with both Europe and Washington," the expert said.

“However, Iran could not fail to respond to the US withdrawal from the JCPOA.

It began to build up its nuclear potential and prepare to enrich uranium to a high level, ”added Fedorova.

"The USA must take the first step"

Recall that Iran and the six countries (Russia, USA, Great Britain, China, France and Germany) signed in 2015 the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program.

The parties agreed that Iran will abandon the development of nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting the sanctions from the republic that were previously imposed by the UN Security Council, the United States and the EU.

Under the terms of the deal, Tehran can enrich uranium for peaceful purposes up to 3.67%.

However, in 2018, the new head of the White House, Donald Trump, pulled the United States out of the deal and reinstated anti-Iranian sanctions.

In response, the authorities of the Islamic Republic also stopped fulfilling some of the conditions of the JCPOA.

At the same time, the Iranian side declares its adherence to the treaty.

  • Joe Biden

  • © REUTERS / Tom Brenner

Joe Biden during his election campaign criticized Trump for withdrawing from the nuclear deal with Iran.

After winning the presidential elections in the United States, the politician promised that he would return to negotiations with Iran.

Biden also added that adherence to the JCPOA is important for maintaining stability in the Middle East.  

In February, the head of the updated press service of the State Department, Ned Price, stated the failure of the policy of maximum pressure on Iran, which was pursued by the previous administration.

The ministry believes that this policy has had the opposite desired effect: Tehran has more opportunities to develop nuclear weapons.

However, Washington does not intend to take the initiative and is waiting for the first step from the Iranian side.

As Price said, "if Iran returns to full fulfillment of its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States will be ready to respond in kind." 

A similar statement was made by Biden's National Security Assistant Jake Sullivan.

“First, Joe Biden is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Second, he considers pragmatic and sober diplomacy to be the surest means of achieving this goal.

So he is ready to sit down at the table (negotiations. -

RT

), talk with Iran about ways to return the Iranian nuclear program under strict restrictions, "Sullivan said in an interview with CBS.

Note that in early March, the head of the White House extended for a year the sanctions regime against Iran, which was introduced by the Bill Clinton administration more than 25 years ago.

According to the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, Biden is unlikely to cancel the restrictions, the effect of which was renewed by the decision of his predecessor.

“The Trump administration said that a number of additional points had to be included in the deal with Iran, for example, the issue of developing ballistic missiles.

It makes no sense for Biden to lift these sanctions now; instead, he is trying to create a new deal with Iran.

In turn, Tehran wants the sanctions to be lifted first, and after that it will be able to sit down at the negotiating table, "the expert explained in an interview with RT.

At the same time, he found it difficult to give any forecast regarding the further development of the situation with the Iranian nuclear deal.

“Based on Biden's actions on the foreign policy front, it is difficult to say exactly what he is seeking,” the expert says.

In turn, Irina Fedorova recalled that the return of the United States to the JCPOA was initially interpreted by Biden only as the first step in the White House's policy towards Iran.

From the expert's point of view, in the future, the American administration expects to involve Iran in negotiations on its missile potential, as well as the actions of pro-Iranian groups such as Hezbollah.

“Iran is not ready for such negotiations, it only advocates a return to the terms of the JCPOA.

And the United States should be the first to take a step by lifting the sanctions.

However, although at the official level the parties take a tough position, it is possible that some unofficial negotiations are underway between Washington and Tehran, since each of the parties is interested in maintaining, if not the JCPOA, then opportunities for further contacts, ”concluded Irina Fedorov.