Iran begins injecting uranium into advanced centrifuges, further threatening nuclear deal
‘Our stockpile is quickly increasing,’ head of country’s atomic agency warns. ‘We hope they will come to their senses’
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Your support makes all the difference.Iran has begun injecting uranium gas into advanced centrifuges in violation of its nuclear deal with world powers, a spokesman has announced.
Behrouz Kamalvandi of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran warned Europe had little time left to save the 2015 deal.
Donald Trump, the US president, withdrew America from the nuclear accord over a year ago before imposing crippling trade sanctions on Iran.
“Our stockpile is quickly increasing,” Mr Kamalvandi warned in a news conference. “We hope they will come to their senses.”
Iran has already breached the stockpile and enrichment level limits set by the deal, while stressing it could quickly revert back to the terms of the accord, if Europe delivers the sanctions relief promised in return for curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Mr Kamalvandi said Iran had the ability to go beyond 20 per cent enrichment of uranium.
Analysts have warned 20 per cent is a short technical step away from 90 per cent enrichment, which is weapons-grade level.
While Mr Kamalvandi stressed “the Islamic Republic is not after the bomb,” he warned Iran was running out of ways to stay in the accord.
“If Europeans want to make any decision, they should do it soon,” he said.
Mr Kamalvandi warned several times in his comments that Iran was rapidly approaching a point that would mean a full withdrawal from the deal.
“Our stockpile is quickly increasing, we hope they will come to their senses,” he said.
However, he stressed that Iran would allow UN inspectors to continue to monitor sites in the country. He made the announcement, broadcast on live TV, from a podium with advanced centrifuges standing in the foreground.
A top official from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency was expected to meet with Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday.
Tensions between Iran and the US have risen in recent months, during which mysterious attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz have taken place and Iran has shot down a US military surveillance drone.
On Saturday, satellite images showed a once-detained Iranian oil tanker pursued by the US appears to be off the coast of Syria, where Tehran reportedly promised the vessel would not go when authorities in Gibraltar agreed to release it several weeks ago.
The tanker Adrian Darya-1, formerly known as the Grace-1, turned off its Automatic Identification System late on Monday, leading to speculation it would be heading to Syria.
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