Iran says it will breach uranium limit, US denounces 'nuclear blackmail'
Tensions between Iran and the US are rising more than a year after President Donald Trump announced Washington was withdrawing from the nuclear deal. Fears of a confrontation increased last week when oil tankers in the Gulf were attacked.
The accord, which Iran and the other signatories have maintained following Trump's decision, caps Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium at 300 kg enriched to 3.67%. But Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Monday: "We have quadrupled the rate of enrichment (of uranium) and even increased it more recently, so that in 10 days it will bypass the 300 kg limit".
"Iran's reserves are every day increasing at a more rapid rate," he told state TV, adding that "the move will be reversed once other parties fulfil their commitments".
The move further undermines the nuclear pact also signed by Russia, Britain, Germany, China and the European Union, but Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the collapse of the deal would not be in the interests of the region or the world.
A White House National Security Council spokesman said Iran's plan amounted to "nuclear blackmail" and must be met with increased international pressure. The nuclear deal seeks to head off any pathway to an Iranian nuclear bomb in return for the removal of most international sanctions.
Britain said if Iran breached agreed limits then London would look at "all options". Israel, Iran's arch foe, urged world powers to step up sanctions against Tehran swiftly should it exceed the enriched uranium limit.
However, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the EU would only react to any breach if the International Atomic Energy Agency formally identified one. The tensions between US and Iran are growing again following attacks last Thursday on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, a vital oil shipping route. Trump's administration has accused Iran of being behind the incidents. Iran denies having any role.
Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, on Monday denied Tehran was behind the attacks and said if the Islamic Republic decided to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping lane it would do so publicly. Iran on Monday accused its main regional rival Saudi Arabia - a close US ally -of adopting a "militaristic, crisis-based approach" for accusing Tehran of carrying out the tanker attacks.
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References
- ^ Donald Trump (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ nuclear pact (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ Hassan Rouhani (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
- ^ Gulf of Oman (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
from Gulf News, Latest Middle East News Headlines & Live News Updates - Times of India http://bit.ly/2Xlzkj4
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