Reports: Iran quadruples its production of uranium

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity amid tensions with the U.S. over Tehran’s atomic program, nuclear officials said Monday, just after President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traded threats on Twitter. While Trump’s approach has become a hallmark of his foreign policy, the risks have only grown in dealing with Iran, where mistrust between Tehran and Washington stretch back four decades. While both sides say they don’t seek war, many worry that any miscalculation could spiral out of control.

Happening now

News agencies reported the increased production of uranium is being enriched to 3.67%. Iranian officials made a point to stress that the uranium would be enriched only to this limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, making it enough for civilian applications, like a power plant, but nowhere near the 90% needed for nuclear weapons.

Why it matters

Quadrupling production would mean that Iran likely will go beyond the stockpile limitations set by the nuclear accord that the U.S. withdrew from last year. Tehran has set a July 7 deadline for Europe to come up with new terms for the deal, or it will enrich closer to weapons-grade levels.

Ongoing tensions

■ The U.S. has deployed bombers and an aircraft carrier to the region over unspecified threats from Iran.

■ Earlier this month, officials in the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers were damaged in a sabotage attack; Yemeni rebels allied with Iran launched a drone attack on an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia; and U.S. diplomats relayed a warning that commercial airlines could be misidentified by Iran and attacked.

■ A rocket landed Sunday near the U.S. Embassy in the Green Zone of Iraq’s capital of Baghdad, days after nonessential U.S. staff were ordered to evacuate from diplomatic posts in the country. No one was injured.

■ In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s military intercepted two missiles fired by the Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen, reports said.

What’s next

House Democrats will hear from former CIA Director John Brennan about the situation in Iran, inviting him to speak this week amid heightened concerns over the Trump administration’s sudden moves in the region. Brennan is scheduled to talk to House Democrats at a private weekly caucus meeting today. The invitation to Brennan and Wendy Sherman, a former State Department official and top negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal, offers counterprogramming to the Trump administration’s closed-door briefing for lawmakers also planned for today on Capitol Hill.

U.S. NAVY VIA AP Sailors work on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Sunday. The U.S. deployed the carrier and bombers to the region over threats from Iran.