Iran Exiles Rap Nuclear Deal for Allowing Uranium Enrichment
An exiled Iranian opposition group known for making revelations about Tehran's nuclear drive in the past regretted Tuesday that Iran was allowed to continue enriching uranium under a historic deal.
Reached on day 18 of marathon talks between the 5+1 countries -- the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China and Germany -- and Iran, the deal aims at resolving a 13-year standoff over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
It puts strict limits on Iran's nuclear activities for at least a decade and calls for stringent U.N. oversight, and in return Tehran will get much-needed sanctions relief.
Under the deal, Iran has also pledged to slash by around two-thirds its number of centrifuges, maintaining its ability to enrich uranium but just for peaceful purposes.
"Had the P5+1 been more decisive, the Iranian regime would have no way but to fully retreat and permanently give up its efforts to acquire the nuclear bomb," said Maryam Rajavi, head of the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
"Specifically, it would have halted all uranium enrichment and shut down its bomb-making projects," she said in a statement.
But Rajavi added that the deal was still a setback for Tehran that "will inevitably aggravate the power struggle within the top leadership and upset the internal balance of power against the regime's supreme leader."
She said world powers now had to work on stopping Iran's "interferences" in the region.
The NCRI is a coalition of Iranian opposition groups that includes the better known People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran.
Source: Agence France Presse
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