Iran turns up nuclear heat
Tehran: We’ll ‘breach’ new heights over sanctions
Iran announced on Sunday that it would enrich uranium beyond the limits set in the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers as it upped pressure on European countries to ease the sanctions imposed by President Trump.
“We are fully prepared to enrich uranium at any level and with any amount,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.
Top Iranian officials warned that the country would continue to reduce its commitments every 60 days unless the nuclear accord’s remaining parties help alleviate the “maximum pressure” campaign Trump instituted after withdrawing from it last year.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran’s actions were “reversible” if the other signatories — Britain, France, Germany, the EU, China and Russia — follow through with their obligations and protect the Islamic republic from the penalties.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the nations to stand firm and not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
“Iran’s latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions. Nations should restore the longstanding standard of no enrichment for Iran’s nuclear program,” Pompeo tweeted.
“Iran’s regime, armed with nuclear weapons, would pose an even greater danger to the world.”
French President Emmanuel Macron called the breach a “violation” but gave the parties a week to begin new talks.
Germany and Britain warned Iran to “stop and reverse all activities” that violate the deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for “snapback sanctions” against Tehran, referring to a stipulation in the 2015 deal that allows the nations reimpose, or snap back, penalties if Iran violates the pact.
Iran, he argued, had one reason for enriching uranium: “It’s for the creation of atomic bombs.”
Under the deal brokered by the Obama administration, Iran is barred from enriching uranium above 3.67 percent, which allows for its use in power generation but is far below the 90 percent needed for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
At a news conference Sunday, Kamalvandi predicted, “Within hours, the technical tasks will be done, and enrichment above 3.67 percent will begin.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, vowed to monitor the situation.
Iran’s action comes less than a week after it exceeded the nuclear deal’s 300 kilogram cap on its enriched-uranium stockpile.
Last month, Trump ordered, then halted, a military strike last month after Iran downed a US surveillance drone. The US bolstered its military presence in the region after accusing Iran of attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.