MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. Iran and the P5+1 group of international mediators (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany) are unlikely to finally sign a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program by the deadline of June 30, Vladimir Yevseyev, director of the Russian Center for Socio-Political Studies, a think tank, said on Tuesday.
He said the Americans had taken a rigid position on anti-Iranian sanctions. "Anti-Iranian sanctions will not be lifted, they will be suspended. This is the United States’ position. The reasoning is as follows: if the sanctions are completely lifted it will be difficult to re-impose them. That is why the United States and the European Union will only suspend the sanctions," he said at a roundtable meeting at the Syrian embassy in Moscow.
In this case, the Iranians, as they say, will not sign the comprehensive agreement, the expert noted. "If anything is to be signed, it will be a framework agreement. But it is unlikely to happen by the end of June," he said. "The Americans are speaking about a possible postponement to mid-July, but there are forecasts about later dates."
According to Yevseyev, the problem is rooted in the fact that the sanctions lifting mechanism had not yet been agreed. "Apart from that, there is a certain gap in positions concerning centrifuge storing. But what is most important, the issue of removal low-enriched uranium in the form of hexafluoride has not been agreed with Russia," he said.
"This issue has not yet been agreed and it looks like this situation may remain in a suspended state for yet some time more," he said.