TEHRAN - The former deputy director general for safeguards at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says he is confident that a comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and major powers will be “fair”.

“I trust that the agreement will be fair and includes elements, which curb any unnecessary desires in the region to embark to additional development of sensitive nuclear fuel cycle activities,” Olli Heinonen tells the Tehran Times.

Earlier this month Iran and the six major powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) agreed on a framework for a Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action (CJPOA).

The sides are expected to finalize the deal by June 30. However, the mechanism for lifting sanctions against Iran has emerged as stumbling block. Iran has said there will be no deal if all sanctions are not removed.

However, Heinonen is confident that Iran and its negotiating patters will find a solution to “this stumbling block”.

“I am sure that the negotiators find innovative ways to deal with this stumbling block,” says Heinonen, now a senior fellow at Harvard University.


Following is the text of the interview:

Q: What are the other side’s reasons for not lifting sanctions immediately once a final nuclear deal is sealed?

A: I see this as a process of building trust. The other side wants to see that Iran implements fully its commitments and sees a stepwise process being the best way to proceed. Iran understandably wants guarantees that the sanctions, are, indeed listed. Such a tit-for-tat process is usual in diplomacy, and I am sure that the negotiators find innovative ways to deal with this stumbling block.

I am sure that the negotiators have already been looking various alternatives, but they have not made them public. I do not think that it is realistic to expect that all sanctions are lifted on day one, but the parties can perhaps highlight on the preamble that this is the ultimate end result when the implementation of the agreement proceeds successfully through agreed and well defined milestones.

Q: To what extent can the framework agreement lead to a comprehensive nuclear deal?


A: The outline is an intermediate stock taking on where the talks stand. This is why we also see somewhat different views on various fact sheets distributed. These differences also signal the tremendous painstaking work the negotiators are facing in months to come. Most of the work lies ahead, and we need to remember the notion expressed in the November 2013 Joint Plan of Action, which states that nothing is agreed before everything is agreed.

Q: Generally, what kind of agreement do you think the sides will finally agree on?

A: I trust that the agreement will be fair and includes elements, which curb any unnecessary desires in the region to embark to additional development of sensitive nuclear fuel cycle activities. It also creates a global precedent for similar activities. Thus it is important that it comes with a robust verification and monitoring scheme, which provides the IAEA inspectors with access to all nuclear activities in the territory of Iran as is stipulated in the safeguards agreement and additional prorocol, and that Iran walks the extra miles to remove the outstanding ambiguities to demonstrate that the nuclear program serves only for peaceful purposes and meets Iran’s practical needs.