Iran has, once again, violated terms of the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, an Iranian official indicated Monday.
The news comes as Iran celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Nov. 4, 1979, siege of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, The Associated Press reported Monday.
Tehran is now operating 60 IR-6 advanced centrifuges — twice as many as the country was previously known to be operating, the AP reported, citing comments the head of Iran’s nuclear program, Ali Akbar Salehi, said on state TV.
The 40th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran serves as a reminder of the long history of malign behavior by the regime in #Iran and the danger it has posed to the United States and the world over the past 40 years. https://t.co/Why37eFgkJ pic.twitter.com/NnooHx9tzO
— Department of State (@StateDept) November 4, 2019
The IR-6 centrifuges are in violation of Iran’s nuclear agreement with France, the U.K., China, Russia and Germany. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact in 2018.
The IR-6 centrifuges have the capacity to produce enriched uranium 10 times faster than the 5,060 IR-1 centrifuges the agreement allowed Iran to use, according to AP. Tehran is also working on creating a a prototype centrifuge called IR-9 that can produce enriched uranium 50 times faster than the IR-1 centrifuges, Salehi said.
“Ultimately, Iran is doing nothing less than putting the entire nuclear agreement at risk,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday.
The head of Iran’s nuclear program says Tehran is now operating 60 IR-6 advanced centrifuges in violation of its atomic deal with world powers. The announcement was made on the 40th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.https://t.co/2oF2DoYhOm
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 4, 2019
European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said Monday that Iran’s decision to increase the number of IR-6 centrifuges was “unacceptable.” (RELATED: Netanyahu Wants Sanctions For Iran Over Nuclear Deal, Tells European Countries To ‘Stand Behind Their Commitments’)
She added that the deal “is a matter of our security, not just the region or Europe but globally,” and said the European Union’s commitment to the deal ultimately “depends on the full compliance by Iran,” according to AP.
Iran has violated terms of the agreement on multiple occasions since 2015, when the deal was implemented, up through 2019.
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