WASHINGTON • Iran has breached a crucial limit on the level of uranium enrichment set out in the 2015 nuclear deal, the country's atomic energy agency said yesterday, as China - another signatory to the deal - accused the United States of "bullying" Teheran with crippling economic sanctions.
Mr Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran's atomic energy agency, told state broadcaster IRIB that the country had surpassed a limit of 3.67 per cent uranium enrichment and was prepared to go further to 20 per cent purity.
He later told another Iranian news outlet, ISNA, that the enrichment level was above 4.5 per cent.
He added that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency were expected to confirm that information. The agency said it was working to verify the level of enrichment. The US withdrew last year from the landmark nuclear accord with other powers and Iran, and this May imposed new punishing economic sanctions on Iran.
US Vice-President Mike Pence said yesterday that the country is prepared to protect American personnel and citizens in the Middle East as tensions with Iran rise over its nuclear programme.
"Let me be clear: Iran should not confuse American restraint with a lack of American resolve," Mr Pence said, speaking to an evangelical Christian group that lobbies for support for Israel. "We hope for the best, but the United States of America and our military are prepared to protect our interests and protect our personnel and our citizens in the region," he said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had tweeted on Sunday that Iran would face "further isolation and sanctions". President Donald Trump, who ordered air strikes last month, only to cancel them minutes before impact, has warned Iran's leaders "to be careful".
The European Union said it was "extremely concerned" over the development and called on Iran to "reverse all activities" inconsistent with its deal commitments.
But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi warned against any escalatory response. If the Europeans "do certain strange acts, then we would skip all the next steps (in the plan to scale back commitments) and implement the last one", he said.
He did not specify what the final step would be, but Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had warned previously that the country could leave the nuclear accord.
China and Russia, the other deal partners, have blamed the US for the latest step by Iran. Beijing accused Washington of "unilateral bullying", while Moscow said Teheran's breaching the cap was one of the "consequences" of the White House abandoning the deal.
NYTIMES, REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
