Iran Announces New Breach of the Nuclear Agreement. Iran will enrich uranium above the limit stipulated in the 2015 nuclear agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the decision a “very, very dangerous step.”
Iran will start enriching uranium above the 3.67 percent limit within a few hours. The spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) announced this on Sunday morning.
This is the second time that the Islamic republic is violating a commitment from the agreement with the superpowers.
The 2015 agreement limits Iran’s nuclear capacity. Among other things, it says that Tehran may not enrich more than 300 kilograms of uranium to the upper limit of 3.67 percent.
That level is sufficient for local activities – such as the generation of electricity and medical research – but is not enough for the development of a bomb.
In exchange for that restriction, economic sanctions against Iran were lifted. Iran agreed with the US, China, Germany, France, Great Britain and Russia.
When US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from that agreement last year and re-introduced sanctions, Iran stepped up its production of enriched uranium.
Iran denies that it wants to make nuclear weapons.
Abbas Araqchi, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, says Iran will phase out its compliance with the 2015 agreement every sixty days. But he emphasizes that a diplomacy is still an option, provided that the sanctions are lifted.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani calls on European countries to save the deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls Iran’s decision a “very, very dangerous step.”
The prime minister is asking Europe to sanction Iran now. “I appeal to my friends, the leaders of France, England and Germany. You signed this deal and said that as soon as Iran made this decision, you would impose severe sanctions. Where are you?’