Iran boosting stockpile of enriched uranium
Amount will soon pass limit in nuclear accord
Iran – Iran has quadrupled its production of enriched uranium amid tensions with the U.S. over the unraveling nuclear accord with Tehran, two semiofficial news agencies reported Monday, an announcement that came just after President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister traded threats and taunts.
While the reports said the production is of uranium enriched only to the 3.67% limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal that Tehran reached with world powers, it means that Iran soon will surpass the stockpile limitations the accord set.
This follows days of heightened tensions sparked by the Trump administration’s deployment of bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf over still-unspecified threats from Iran. While Trump’s dueling approach of flattery and threats has become a hallmark of his foreign policy, the risks have only grown in dealing with Iran, where mistrust between Tehran and Washington stretches back four decades.
This month, officials in the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers sustained damage 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 aircraft could be misidentified by Iran and attacked, something Tehran dismissed.
All these tensions are the culminament tion of Trump’s decision a year ago to pull the U.S. out of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. While both Washington and Tehran say they don’t seek war, many worry any miscalculation could spiral out of control.
Both the semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported on the quadrupled production quoting Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran’s nuclear agency. He said the increase in production of 3.67% enriched uranium does not mean Iran increased the number of centrifuges it has in use, another requirement of the deal.
He said Iran “in weeks” would reach the 300-kilogram limit set by the deal.
Kamalvandi said Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency about its move. The IAEA did not immediately respond to a request for COMTEHRAN, Monday.
Trump’s tweet early Monday came just hours after a Katyusha rocket fell in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone near the statue of the Unknown Soldier, less than a mile from the U.S. Embassy, causing no injuries. Iraqi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul told The Associated Press that the rocket was believed to have been fired from eastern Baghdad. The area is home to Iran-backed Shiite militias.
“If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran,” Trump tweeted. “Never threaten the United States again!”
Trump’s tweet reflects what has been a strategy of alternating tough talk with more conciliatory statements he says is aimed at keeping Iran guessing at the administration’s intentions.