Iran: Last chance to save nuclear deal

Iran warned yesterday that the last chance to save its nuclear deal would pass after a 60-day deadline, as the country announced it had increased its uranium enrichment to beyond the cap agreed in the landmark 2015 accord.

Tehran has passed the 3.67 per cent uranium enrichment level and may enrich at even higher levels, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation.

The move – which has already taken the enrichment level beyond 4.5 per cent – marks the most serious break from the deal since the withdrawal of the United States last year.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which effectively polices the deal, confirmed yesterday that the enrichment threshold had been broken.

However, Iran’s enrichment levels remain well below the 20 per cent threshold needed to develop a nuclear bomb, leaving room for negotiations.

Abbas Mousavi, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, said that Iran would not offer any extension to the ‘‘deadline’’, which elapses on September 5.

On Monday, Iranian officials said the country would take further steps toward the ‘‘reduction’’ of its compliance with the accord – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – after the deadline.

Mousavi said it was open to negotiations with its European partners and expressed hope that they would ‘‘take steps forward’’ toward meeting their commitments. Iran is pressuring Europe to find a way around US sanctions and deliver promised economic relief.

A European Commission spokesman said the EU was ‘‘extremely concerned’’ by the announcements.

‘‘We have called on Iran not to take any further steps,’’ the EU foreign affairs spokesman said. ‘‘We strongly urge Iran to stop and reverse any actions inconsistent with the JCPOA.’’

The EU has been in contact with other countries signed up to the deal, which imposes punitive measures for breaching limits. European diplomats are due to meet Iranian delegates on July 15, but it is thought they will not want to address the breach until then for fear of jeopardising the deal.

Jeremy Hunt, the British Foreign Secretary, said: ‘‘We would still like to find a way to make this deal work ... We will wait for independent verification ... before deciding what next steps [to take].

‘‘But obviously if Iran is breaching this deal, there will be very serious consequences.’’

China yesterday accused the US of bullying Iran, claiming the ‘‘maximum pressure’’ it was imposing was the ‘‘root cause of the crisis in the Iranian nuclear issue’’.

The news came as Tehran warned the UK over its seizing of an Iranian oil tanker last week, a ‘‘threatening act which would not be tolerated,’’ said Amir Hatami, the defence minister.

Royal Marines impounded the tanker in Gibraltar on Friday on suspicion that it was carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. Iran denies it was headed to Syria, where the government of President Bashar alAssad is an ally of Tehran.

Hatami added: ‘‘This is an incorrect and wrong action, an action similar to maritime robbery ... these kind of robberies will not be tolerated.’’

– Telegraph Group

‘‘We have called on Iran not to take any further steps. We strongly urge Iran to stop and reverse any actions inconsistent with the JCPOA’’

EU foreign affairs spokesman