Weekly Commentary: Mr. Kerry - IR-8 Centrifuges Developed During the JPA -
Oops

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 26 February 2015

Mr. Kerry and others on the Obama team are now pitching the argument that
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cried wolf on the Joint Plan of Action
(JPA) and thus anything he says now against the pending deal is also crying
wolf.

But Netanyahu didn’t cry wolf. He was dead right.

"Iran will also in accordance with the Geneva agreement continue its
activities in all nuclear research and development fields."
Ali Akbar Salehi, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI)
April 10 2014

That’s right. The JPA placed no restrictions on R&D activities. But that’s
only the tip of the iceberg.

Under the JPA, Iran could actually build advanced equipment as long as it
didn’t install it.

Consider the IR-8 centrifuges.

“…the IR8 is the latest generation of centrifuges whose enrichment power is
equal to 24 Separative Work Units (SWU)”[AL: 16 times the current generation
IR-1 centrifuge]
Ali Akbar Salehi - Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI)
Fars News - Dec 14, 2014

And here’s how an expert reacted to the news:

“Whatever the true value of the enrichment output of the IR-8 centrifuge,
Iran’s development of this centrifuge during the period of the JPA was not
expected by P5+1 negotiators. The IR-8 should serve as a warning that strict
limits on Iran’s centrifuge R&D activities, even if difficult to verify, are
necessary to limit Iran’s nuclear program in a predictable, stable manner
that reduces the chance of a secret breakout to nuclear weapons or a rapid
increase in enrichment capability if Iran reneges on a long term deal.”
Technical Note: Making Sense out of the IR-8 Centrifuge
By David Albright - Institute for Science and International Security Report
September 23, 2014

Put in plain English - the IR-8 illustrates that the Americans who agreed to
the JPA screwed up!

And the JPA didn’t even ADDRESS placing any restrictions on Iranian
activities to develop, build, test and even deploy missiles that can serve
as the delivery systems for nuclear warheads to reach targets around the
world.

No Mr. Kerry, my prime minister didn't cry wolf on the JPA.

You and Mr. Obama’s track record in making accurate assessments with regard
to a broad variety of matters in our region, in sharp contrast, has been
shockingly poor.
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