U.N. reports increasing violations by Iran of nuclear deal

Uranium particles of manmade origin have been discovered at a site in Iran not declared to the United Nations, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Monday as it confirmed a litany of violations by Tehran of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has begun enriching uranium at a heavily fortified installation inside a mountain, is increasing its stockpile of processed uranium, and is exceeding the allowable enrichment levels.

All such steps are prohibited under the agreement that Iran reached with world powers to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

But since the U.S. under President Donald Trump pulled out of the pact last year and imposed new sanctions, Iran has been openly stepping up violations in an attempt to pressure the other major signatories — Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia — to help it economically by such means as facilitating the sale of Iranian oil.

The IAEA report came as European Union members met to decide how to keep the deal alive.

“We now need to make it clear to Iran that it can’t continue like this,” German Foreign Minister Heiko

Maas told reporters. later in the day, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli as saying. Seven other German nationals were scheduled to leave the country on Thursday, he said.

Two Irish nationals, two German nationals, and 11 French nationals who were captured in Syria were also to be transferred to their home countries soon, Catakli said.

The U.S. did not immediately comment on Ankara’s announcement.