Iran up the ante in N-chain reaction

Tehran says can resume high-level uranium enrichment within 5 days if US tears up N-deal

Tehran, Aug. 22: Iran can resume high-level uranium enrichment within five days if the United States tears up the nuclear deal, the head of its Atomic Energy Organisation said Tuesday.

The deal that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani championed with the United States, Russia, China and three European powers led to the lifting of most sanctions against Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

“If we make a determination, at most in five days we can start 20 per cent enrichment in Fordo (nuclear plant),” said Ali Akbar Salehi in an interview with state broadcaster IRIB.

“Of course we would not like such a thing to happen as we made a lot of effort to achieve the JCPOA (nuclear deal),” he added.

“Our biggest priority is to maintain the JCPOA, but of course not at any price.”

The 2015 nuclear deal with world powers saw sanctions eased in exchange for curbs to Iran’s nuclear programme.

That included a ban on high-level enrichment of uranium 20 per cent or more a process which would take Iran close to the level needed for a nuclear weapon.

Rouhani has intensified efforts to protect the deal, also known by its acronym JCPOA, against Washington’s return to an aggressive Iran policy, after US President Donald Trump approved new sanctions on Tehran.

US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to tear up the nuclear

Qdeal during his campaign, and it has come under mounting pressure after Tehran carried out missile tests and Washington imposed new sanctions -with each accusing the other of violating the spirit of the agreement.

Trump also signed in August a U.S. Senate bill that imposed sanctions on Iran, Russia, and North Korea.

But Salehi said that scrapping the nuclear deal would backfire on Washington in its efforts to tackle North Korea’s atomic programme.

Iran says new U.S. sanctions breach the JCPOA but the United States says they were unrelated to the deal. “If they call off the JCPOA, North Korea will say you are not committed to your pledges,” he said.

“The credibility of the US will fall apart and the question will be raised as to why they committed themselves and then violated their commitments.”

Under the deal, Iran is allowed to enrich uranium to low levels of 3.5 percent, which can be used to power reactors.

At 20-percent, uranium can be used for nuclear medicines, but crucially leaves only a small amount of work to get to the 90percent level needed for a nuclear weapon.

For this reason, when in February 2010 Iran began enriching to 20 percent alarm bells rang, since it dramatically shortened the time needed to produce a bomb’s worth of weapons-grade uranium.

Iran denied seeking a nuclear weapon, but the West imposed heavy sanctions.

Mr Rouhani had earlier said the top foreign policy priority for his new government was to protect the nuclear deal.

“The most important job of our foreign minister is first to stand behind the JCPOA, and not to allow the US and other enemies to succeed,” Mr Rouhani said, using the technical name for the 2015 deal.