by WorldTribune Staff, July 8, 2019
Germany and the United Kingdom, two of the three European signatories of the 2015 nuclear accord, lashed out at Iran after the Islamic Republic announced it would breach the deal.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, announced on July 7 that Iran would begin enriching uranium to a higher purity level than 3.67 percent.
On July 6, an Iranian official indicated to Reuters that Iran would increase its uranium enrichment to 5 percent.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in response to the move, “Iran better be careful, because you enrich for one reason, and I won’t tell you what that reason is, but it’s no good. They better be careful.”
Trump told reporters that “Iran’s doing a lot of bad things” but also vowed they “will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Germany’s foreign ministry said it had “called upon Iran not to take further measures that undermine the nuclear deal.”
“We strongly urge Iran to stop and reverse all activities inconsistent with its commitments under the JCPOA, including the production of low enriched uranium beyond the respective JCPOA stockpile limit,” said a ministry spokesman using the official name for the deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Britain’s Foreign Office denounced Iran’s move as well, saying “Iran has broken the terms of the JCPOA.”
“While the UK remains fully committed to the deal, Iran must immediately stop and reverse all activities inconsistent with its obligations. We are coordinating with other JCPOA participants regarding the next steps under the terms of the deal, including a Joint Commission,” it added.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, warned Iran that Iran would be subject to new sanctions because of its breaching of the terms of the nuclear deal.
“Iran’s latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions. Nations should restore the longstanding standard of no enrichment for Iran’s nuclear program,” tweeted Pompeo.
“Iran’s regime, armed with nuclear weapons, would pose an even greater danger to the world,” he added.
Iran has threatened to abandon further nuclear commitments unless the deal’s remaining partners — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — helped it circumvent U.S. sanctions, especially to sell its oil.
Iran recently met in Vienna with European, Russian and Chinese officials to discuss ways to save the 2015 nuclear following the U.S. withdrawal.
Iran’s envoy to the meeting in Vienna said that European countries had offered too little to persuade Teheran to back off from its plans to breach limits imposed by the deal, Israel’s Arutz Sheva reported.
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