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Iran set to exceed nuclear deal uranium enrichment cap
TEHRAN, July 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Iran says it intends to breach the uranium
enrichment cap set by a landmark nuclear deal Sunday in a bid to press
signatories to the endangered pact into keeping their side of the bargain.
The looming move — involving purifying beyond the 3.67 percent allowed by
the 2015 agreement — was confirmed by President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday,
despite opposition from the US and the EU.
He in effect made concrete a threat initially flagged by the Islamic
Republic on May 8, exactly a year on from US President Donald Trump
unilaterally abandoning the multilateral deal in May 2018.
Rouhani said the planned move is in response to a failure by remaining
state signatories to keep their promise to help Iran work around biting
sanctions reimposed by the US in the second half of last year.
It is not yet clear how far the Islamic republic will boost enrichment.
But a top advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hinted on
Friday it could reach five percent.
Uranium enrichment “will increase as much as needed for our peaceful
activities,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, international affairs advisor to
Khamenei, in an interview published on the supreme leader’s website.
For the “Bushehr nuclear reactor we need five percent of enrichment and it
is a completely peaceful goal,” he added.
Bushehr is Iran’s only nuclear power station and runs on imported fuel from
Russia that is closely monitored by the UN’s International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA).
The 2015 deal was reached between Iran and six world powers — Britain,
China, France, Germany, the US and Russia — and saw Iran agree to
drastically scale down its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions
relief.
The US began reimposing sanctions in August 2018 and has targeted crucial
sectors including oil exports and the banking system, fuelling a deep
recession.
The 3.67 percent enrichment limit set in the agreement is sufficient for
power generation but far below the more than 90 percent level required for a
nuclear warhead.
Rouhani stressed that Iran’s action would be reversed if the other parties
provided relief from the US sanctions.
Iran’s president insists that his country’s policies are not meant to “hurt
(the deal), but to preserve” it.
– ‘Extremely concerned’ –
France has warned Tehran that it would “gain nothing” by leaving the deal
and has said “challenging the agreement would only increase tensions” in the
Middle East.
Iran says that it is not violating the deal, citing terms of the agreement
allowing one side to temporarily abandon some of commitments if it deems the
other side is not respecting its part of the accord.
The diplomatic chiefs of Britain, France, Germany and the EU have said they
were “extremely concerned”.
MORE/MSY/0827 hrs
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In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, Rouhani
reiterated Iran’s stance that US sanctions must be lifted, according to
official news agency IRNA.
It also reported that the Islamic Republic will hold a press conference on
Sunday morning to flag “new decisions regarding reducing nuclear deal
commitments.”
Trump, meanwhile, has warned Iran that it is “playing with fire”.
And Iran’s arch-foe Israel has called on the EU to impose sanctions on
Tehran for abandoning its nuclear commitments.
Conversely, Russia voiced regret over Iran’s move but said it was a
consequence of US pressure pushing the deal towards collapse.
The EU has urged Iran to remain committed to the deal — a position that
Rouhani has taken issue with.
The agreement is “either good or bad. If it’s good, everyone should stay
committed to it,” not just Iran, he said on Wednesday.
For Velayati, Europe has “indirectly violated” the deal and Iran is going
to “react exponentially as much as they violate it.”
– ‘Strategic patience’ –
Iran says it exercised “strategic patience” for a year after the US
withdrawal, waiting for the other signatories to make good on promised
economic benefits.
But on May 8, Tehran announced it would no longer respect two key limits; a
1.3-ton maximum for heavy water reserves and a cap of 300 kilogrammes on its
low-enriched uranium stockpile.
The IAEA has in recent days confirmed that Iran has breached the limit of
300 kilogrammes and has scheduled a special meeting on Iran’s nuclear
programme for July 10.
Also on May 8, Tehran gave a 60-day ultimatum — a deadline that expires
Sunday — to deal partners to help it circumvent US sanctions, on pain of
abandoning two more nuclear commitments. One was the enrichment cap.
The other was a freeze on construction of a heavy water reactor.
Rouhani referenced the heavy water reactor Wednesday, telling critical
powers “according to you, (this) is dangerous and can produce plutonium”.
Europe has sought to salvage the nuclear deal by setting up a payment
mechanism known as INSTEX which is meant to help Iran skirt the US sanctions.
But Rouhani has dismissed the mechanism as “hollow”, because it has not
facilitated purchases of Iranian oil.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0827 hrs