Nation set to enrich uranium at higher level
LONDON — Iran will “take the next step” on Sunday and begin to enrich uranium beyond the levels specified under its 2015 accord with the United States and other global powers, President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday, state news outlets reported.
Rouhani’s pledge to accelerate the country’s uranium enrichment is the latest step in an escalating confrontation with the United States over President Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear pact and imposition of crippling economic sanctions on Iran.
On Monday, Tehran increased its stockpile of lowgrade enriched uranium above the cap stipulated in the accord. But its announced intention to enrich uranium to a higher level of purity is considered a far more significant breach of the nuclear deal, as it would bring Iran much closer to producing a nuclear weapon.
To forestall Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear bomb, the United States, the European Union and several world powers agreed in 2015 to lift sweeping economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for limitations on its nuclear activity. Trump withdrew from that deal last year, demanding that Iran agree to more stringent limits on its military activities.
This May, the United States added to its “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran by moving to block the country’s oil sales anywhere in the world. Officials in Tehran have denounced those latest restrictions as “economic warfare.”
The other signatories to the nuclear deal — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — have continued to support it and urged Iran to do the same. But Tehran has threatened to stop complying with the agreement unless the European nations take measures to relieve the economic pain inflicted by the United States.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Tehran, Rouhani said Iran would move Sunday to enrich uranium to higher levels “in any amount that we want, any amount that is required,” regardless of the limits set by the deal.
“Our advice to Europe and the United States is to go back to logic and to the negotiating table,” Rouhani said.