Iranians to abandon curbs on nuke research, development

ISTANBUL — Iran will abandon restrictions on nuclear research and development, including the advancement of centrifuges used to enrich uranium, as the next step toward reducing its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday.

Rouhani made the announcement in a televised address and said the change would begin Friday.

Under the nuclear pact it struck with world powers in 2015, Iran is allowed limited research and development on advanced centrifuges, which accelerate the production of material that could be used to make a nuclear bomb.

Iran’s steps are part of an effort to persuade European nations to reset the terms of the deal after the United States’ withdrawal from it last year. The Trump administration reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran in the fall.

Iran has said it will reduce its commitments under the agreement every 60 days until Europe can negotiate improved economic terms and offset the effects of the U.S. embargo.

In July, Iran breached the pact’s limits on its stockpile of enriched uranium and exceeded a cap on enrichment levels, raising them from 3.67 percent to 4.5 percent. (Weaponsgrade uranium is enriched to about a 90 percent concentration of uranium-235, a fissile isotope.)

Also on Wednesday, the Trump administration stepped up pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions on an oil shipping network with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and offering a reward of up to $15 million for anyone with information that could disrupt its faltering economy even further.