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Iran
Handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on November 5, 2019, shows President Hassan Rouhani speaking during the opening of a factory in the capital Tehran. Photo:AFP/HO/Iranian Presidency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called for increased pressure on Iran as Tehran takes a fourth step back from the nuclear deal.
The country’s “nuclear extortion” must be rejected, Pompeo said in a Thursday statement, adding that he suspects the country is on the verge of a “rapid nuclear breakout”.
“Iran’s expansion of proliferation-sensitive activities raises concerns that Iran is positioning itself to have the option of a rapid nuclear breakout,” warned Pompeo.
Adopted in 2015, the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCOA) aims to curb Iranian nuclear ambitions in exchange for an ease on economic sanctions that have plagued the country.
The US, a main signatory, pulled out of the deal in May 2018, accusing Iran of destabilizing neighboring countries and supporting terrorism.
Pompeo’s remarks were in response to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani’s Tuesday announcement that Iran would take a fourth step back from the nuclear deal.
Starting from Wednesday, Iran will inject gas into centrifuges at Fordow, an underground facility close to the central Iranian city of Qom.
"According to the agreement, we have 1000 centrifuges in Fordow which were supposed to be spinning but without feeding them gas. However, we will start feeding them gas from tomorrow,” Rouhani said on Tuesday, in violation of the JCOA.
Per the agreement, Iran had agreed to freeze all enrichment activity at the facility. However, Rouhani added that the current scaleback is “reversible”.
Iran also announced earlier in the week that it has also had a tenfold increase in its enriched uranium production at Natanz facility.
The latest violation of the deal follows the quadrupling of enriched uranium production.
Various foreign officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have accused Iran of not seriously committing to the nuclear deal, also echoed by Pompeo.
“Iran’s latest nuclear escalations reflect the regime’s intentions all along: to extort the international community into accepting its violence and terror while undermining the sovereignty of its neighbors,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.
“It is now time for all nations to reject this regime’s nuclear extortion and take serious steps to increase pressure. Iran’s continued and numerous nuclear provocations demand such action,” Pompeo added.
Currently, only other signatories, including the other four members of the UN Security Council (the UK, France, China and Russia) and Germany are standing by the deal. However, with multiple rounds of US sanctions, Iran’s economy has already taken a hit.
Iran has now demanded economic support from Europe if it commits to the deal.
Europe, however, is yet to make a statement regarding Iran’s recent actions.
“We have not yet taken a final decision,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a press conference with NATO Secretary of General Jens Stoltenberg in Berlin on Thursday, according to Reuters.
“But with each step Iran takes the situation naturally gets more difficult,” added Merkel.
Despite recent events, Iran has continued letting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to inspect its nuclear facilities as part of the JCOA deal. However, both sides ran into an issue last week, for the first time, since the IAEA started its inspections.
According to reports, Iran cancelled the accreditation of an IAEA inspector,– claiming an an alarm was raised at the Natanz facility gate due to “suspicious material” reportedly in his possession.
The US accused Iran of even detaining the inspector, which Iran rejected.
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