New Fact Sheet Issued by Iran's Parliament: Drastic Revisions of Lausanne Statement Required

If anyone still believes that sufficient common ground was achieved in Lausanne, justifying the declaration of a framework understanding between Iran and the P5+1, he (I'm talking about you, John Kerry) should have a look at the "fact sheet" released today by the Iranian parliament. As reported by Fars News:

"The Iranian parliament's Nuclear Committee on Wednesday released a factsheet to declare the revisions needed to be made in the Lausanne statement that was issued by Tehran and the world powers as a framework understanding at the end of their nuclear talks in Switzerland earlier this month.

The factsheet which was presented by Head of the Nuclear Committee Ebrahim Karkhaneyee on Wednesday stresses the necessity for respecting the redlines and guidelines specified by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, making Iran's decisions and undertakings reversible to enable the country to resume its nuclear operations in case of the other side's non-commitment to its undertakings, and immediate termination of all sanctions in a single step and on the first day of the implementation of the final agreement.

The factsheet also necessitates commitment of both sides to their undertakings based on the Geneva agreement, a fair and reasonable balance between the gives and takes, taking good care not to impair the country's security and military boundaries and national interests, providing 190,000 SWUs (Separative Work Units) of nuclear fuel enrichment capability needed by Iran to produce fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant immediately after the end of contract with Russia, safeguarding the nuclear achievements, actual operation of all nuclear facilities of Iran not in words, but in action, continued Research and Development (R&D) works and scientific and technological progress in Iran and immediate application of R&D findings in the country's industrial-scale uranium enrichment cycle.

The factsheet urges operation of 10,000 centrifuge machines at Natanz and Fordo, a maximum 5-year-long duration for the deal and for Iran's nuclear limitations, replacement of the current centrifuges with the latest generation of home-made centrifuge machines at the end of the five-year period."

Or stated otherwise, there never was a framework understanding, and if the Lausanne statement relected any commonality whatsoever between the sides, it is now null and void.

Was the Iranian parliament responding to the bipartisan compromise reached by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding Senator Bob Corker's bill? Possibly. In any event, there is simply no way that Iran and the P5+1 are going to reach a final agreement by the end of June.