Iran says it will reach allowed enriched uranium limit in 10 days

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Iran said on Monday it would breach internationally agreed limits on its stock of low-enriched uranium in 10 days -- a move likely to strain already high tensions with Washington.
Teheran said in May it will reduce compliance with the nuclear pact it agreed with world powers in 2015, in protest at the United States' decision to unilaterally pull out of the agreement and reimpose sanctions last year. PHOTO: AFP

DUBAI (REUTERS) - Iran said on Monday (June 17) it would breach internationally agreed curbs on its stock of low-enriched uranium in 10 days - a move likely to strain already high tensions with Washington - but it added European nations still had time to save a landmark nuclear deal.

US-Iran tensions are worsening following accusations by the administration of US President Donald Trump that Teheran carried out attacks last Thursday on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, a vital oil shipping route. Iran has denied having any role.

"We have quadrupled the rate of enrichment and even increased it more recently, so that in 10 days it will bypass the 300 kg limit," Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said on state TV. "There is still time ... if European countries act."

"Iran's reserves are every day increasing at a more rapid rate. And if it is important for them (Europe) to safeguard the accord, they should make their best efforts... As soon as they carry out their commitments, things will naturally go back to their original state."

Teheran said in May it would reduce compliance with the nuclear pact it agreed with world powers in 2015, in protest at the United States' decision to unilaterally pull out of the agreement and reimpose sanctions last year.

The deal required Iran to curb its uranium enrichment capacity to head off any pathway to developing a nuclear bomb, in return for the removal of most international sanctions.

A series of more intrusive UN inspections under the deal have verified that Iran has been meeting its commitments.

The accord caps Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium at 300kg of uranium hexafluoride enriched to 3.67 per cent or its equivalent for 15 years.

Urging European signatories to speed up their efforts to salvage the accord, President Hassan Rouhani said its collapse would not be in the interests of the region or the world.

"It's a crucial moment, and France can still work with other signatories of the deal and play an historic role to save the deal in this very short time," Mr Rouhani said during a meeting with France's new ambassador in Iran.

UN WATCHDOG CHIEF WORRIED

Kamalvandi added: "There is still time for the Europeans...But the Europeans have expressed indirectly their inability to act. They should not think that after 60 days (deadline set in May by Iran), they will have another 60-day opportunity."

He told a news conference at Iran's Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, which has been reconfigured under the deal, that Teheran could rebuild the underground facility to make it functional. Heavy water can be employed in reactors to produce plutonium, a fuel used in nuclear warheads.

In a sign of concern at Iran's announcement, Germany urged Teheran to meet all its obligations under the 2015 accord. Britain said if Iran breached limits agreed under the deal then London would look at "all options".

Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said the European Union wanted to stick to the Iran nuclear deal but that Iran needed to do the same. "It's very important to keep on verifying through the International Atomic agency whether Iran is still fulfilling the criteria," he said on arrival to a regular meeting with EU counterparts in Luxembourg. "As long as Iran is fulfilling these criteria we should stick to this deal."

The west European signatories to the deal - France, Britain and Germany - have defended the nuclear accord as the best way to limit Iran's enrichment of uranium.

Iran has repeatedly criticised the delays in setting up a European mechanism that would shield trade with Iran from US sanctions in an effort to save the nuclear deal.

The United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency believe Iran had a nuclear weapons programme that it abandoned. Teheran denies ever having had one.

Close US ally Israel, Iran's arch foe, urged world powers to step up sanctions against Teheran swiftly should it exceed the enriched uranium limit.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday the United States did not want to go to war with Iran but would take every action necessary, including diplomacy, to guarantee safe navigation through vital shipping lanes in the Middle East.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN atomic watchdog, declined to comment. Its chief Yukiya Amano said last week that he was worried about rising tensions around Iran's nuclear programme and that he hoped they could be resolved through dialogue.

Meanwhile, Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, denied Teheran was behind last Thursday's oil tanker attacks.

He said that if the Islamic Republic decided to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping lane it would do so publicly.

The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mr Ali Shamkhani, said on Monday that Teheran was responsible for security in the Gulf and called on US forces to leave the region.

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