The Tower points out that the nuclear scientist Dr. Ephraim Esculai of Harvard University’s Belfer Center released a paper on Tuesday saying essentially the same thing, with more sophisticated detail. Esculai noted that the framework agreement does not bar Iran from producing plutonium at sites other than the previously disputed Arak heavy water facility, that it does not address Iran’s development of nuclear weapon delivery systems, and that the verification process outlined in that agreement lacks the specificity that would likely be required to catch Iranian cheating.
Esculai also concludes that the number of centrifuges allowed under the framework agreement will likely result in a breakout time of less than the promised one year. This is especially true if Iran uses more advanced centrifuges, and the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday that in the latest contradiction between the Iranian and Western fact sheets on the agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claimed that Iran would begin enriching uranium with its most advanced centrifuges immediately after the final agreement is signed.
