The
European Union said today (Tuesday) that it will intensify its efforts
to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran, despite a "major breach" by
Tehran, which yesterday resumed uranium enrichment to 20% at the Purdue
facility.
EU spokesman Peter Stano said Iran's actions would have dire consequences for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. Stano said that it is in the interest of all parties to salvage the agreement, adding that the bloc of 27 countries will "intensify" their efforts to make sure everyone fulfills their obligations in the 2015 agreement.
Iran enriched uranium to a level of 20% prior to the agreement that set it below 4%. This is in order to increase its negotiating power in the last days of the era of US President Donald Trump, whose unilateral withdrawal from the 2018 agreement led to an increasing escalation.
Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the step is "completely reversible" if the other partners in the agreement fully abide by it, without going into details. Uranium enrichment was set to the level of 20% in a law passed by the House of Representatives after the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fahrzadeh in November, in a measure attributed to Israel, which refuses to comment on it.
Iran's increase in enrichment at the underground Bordeaux facility puts Tehran a technical distance from the 90% enrichment level needed to develop nuclear weapons, even though the regime continues to deny that it was planning to develop one.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Tehran announcement and said it proves that Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons. He said, "Iran's decision to continue violating its obligations, raising the level of enrichment and enhancing the industrial capacity for underground enrichment, cannot be explained in any way other than realizing more intentions in developing a military nuclear program." Israel will not allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons. "
The State Department in Washington said it was "nuclear blackmail." The transition team of US President-elect Joe Biden, who wants to return to the nuclear deal, declined to comment.
Iran's recent moves could sabotage Biden's efforts to return to the nuclear deal. Biden said the United States would revert to the agreement "if Iran re-applies it fully." After Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, it responded by violating most of its obligations. Tehran claims it can quickly lift the response measures if Washington lifts the sanctions
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