Iran announced that its stockpile of enriched uranium would exceed, on Sunday, the 3.6 percent limit set out by the 2015 pact “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)” with world powers.
Iran confirmed that it wants to salvage the nuclear deal and called on other parties to meet their obligations.
The announcement points out that Tehran is reducing its commitments to the 2015 deal.
Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi said:”Iran had given enough time to diplomacy and its actions were not a violation of the pact”.
“European governments had failed to fulfill their obligations under the pact,” he said.
Meanwhile, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran confirmed that raising its enrichment of uranium is not subjected to limit.
"We will enrich uranium to the level that is needed for the Bushehr reactor," said Behrouz Kamalvandi, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization spokesman.
Six days ago, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announced that Tehran would enrich its uranium beyond the 3.67 percent level, and it will maintain enrichment at a level that it considers necessary.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said:"Iran’s move to reduce its commitments is not aimed at undermining the JCPOA, but also an attempt to save it; because we believe that if we don’t do anything, the deal will be lost."
Commenting on this move, US President Donald Trump warned Iran to be “careful with threats” as they can “come back to bite you”.
The announcement comes at a time of sharply increased U.S.-Iranian confrontation, a year after Washington fully withdrew from the deal and re-imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Iran.
Israel reacts to the announcement
Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said that the announced increase of Iranian uranium enrichment is moderate but accused Tehran of violating internationally agreed limitations on its nuclear projects and moving towards a potential bomb, Reuters reported.
“Iran has begun - while it is a moderate rise right now - but it has begun to raise, to break out of the uranium enrichment curbs that were imposed on it,” Steinitz told Israel’s Ynet TV.
“It means ... that it is brushing off the red lines that were agreed (and) that it has begun its march, a march that is not simple, toward nuclear weaponry,” Steinitz added.
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