"All I have to say to Trump, abandon this reckless game before it’s too late! You are deluding yourself if you think you’ve been dealt all the trump cards. Your imaginary perfect is the enemy of the good. The JCPoA is a good deal. Signed not only by the United States, but also by six other countries (including Russia), it is working well. All the parties are abiding by their commitments. There can be no deal with Iran without Iran itself. Your imaginary grand bargain is a folly; it has no basis in reality."

Unlike with Bushehr 1 (wherein the 10-year contract on the procurement of Russian fuel ends in 2021), Russia will deliver all of the fuel for the eight future units.  Rosatom is also undertaking the obligation to take back the spent nuclear fuel. Thus, it will not be necessary for Iran to increase its enrichment capacity in order to provide itself with material for fuel for the NPP (one of the reasons why Iranians insisted on the further expansion of their nuclear program)

It seems that a necessary condition for convening the Helsinki should be its depoliticization – that is, turning it into an objective, technical discussion, a discussion of concrete steps toward reducing the risk of WMD proliferation and developing of the beginnings of arms control for the region.

Cartwright’s announcement attests to the fact that the US is prepared to not only hear out the Iranian leadership’s position on the technical details of their nuclear program, but to also actually listen to Tehran’s global concerns. In the foreseeable future, neither the US nor Russia will take this kind of step on their own. However, Washington and Moscow could do this together.