Iran said that it will increase enrichment of uranium to whatever amount needed Wednesday, even if it goes above the cap set by a 2015 nuclear agreement.
This is not the first time that Iran has threatened to increase its enrichment. Iran is allowed to have up to 3.67% uranium-235, according to the nuclear deal, but has repeatedly threatened to go over this amount unless the U.S. relieves the country of sanctions by July 7, the Washington Post reported.
“Our enrichment rate is not going to be 3.67 percent anymore,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said, according to WaPo. “It’s going to be as much as we want it to be.”
Trump tweeted that Iran’s violation was “Not good!” Wednesday morning.
Iran was violating the 150 Billion Dollar (plus 1.8 Billion Dollar in CASH) Nuclear Deal with the United States, and others who paid NOTHING, long before I became President – and they have now breached their stockpile limit. Not good!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran that deny officials “access to key financial resources” on June 22. (RELATED: Trump Signs Executive Order Placing ‘Hard Hitting’ Sanctions On Iran)
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have increased since Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. Navy drone on June 24. The U.S previously accused Iran of attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Iran has denied this allegation.
Iran breached the 660-pound limit for low-enriched uranium Monday. If uranium is increased to around 90%, it can be used as part of a nuclear weapon, WaPo reported. Despite violating the 2015 nuclear deal, Europe said it would not yet move forward with sanctions.
The country has said that it plans to increase enrichment to 20%, which would allow Iran to began making weapons-level uranium faster. The country also wants a new deal with Europe, which has led to the threats of increased uranium enrichment, the Associated Press reported.
Before the nuclear deal, Iran would have accumulated enough uranium to make a nuclear bomb in two or three months, experts said according to WaPo. The nuclear deal increased this to about a year.
The 2015 nuclear deal is comprised of Iran, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany. The U.S. was a part of this deal as well until Trump pulled out last year.
The nuclear deal sets rules on Iran’s nuclear program, and is an attempt to lower tensions over Iran’s alleged attempts to make a nuclear weapon, BBC reported.
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