Iran THREATENS Europe and the United States
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization spokesman and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have announced Iran will continue the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama and the European Union.
President Donald Trump issued a strong warning to Iran after its announcement that it has increased its uranium enrichment above the limit set by the nuclear deal that Tehran signed with world powers in 2015.
When asked about Iran on Sunday, Trump told reporters, “Iran better be careful.”
He wouldn’t elaborate on what action the U.S. might take, but said: “Iran’s doing a lot of bad things.”
Iran is moving closer toward having weapons-grade levels of uranium, but it’s also calling for a diplomatic solution to a crisis heightening tensions with the U.S.
Britain is warning Iran to “immediately stop and reverse all activities” violating the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
The British Foreign Office issued its warning Sunday, after Tehran’s announcement that it would break the 3.67% uranium enrichment limit set in the pact.
The move comes after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement last year and restored crippling sanctions on Iran.
Britain’s Press Association quoted a ministry spokesman saying:
“While the UK remains fully committed to the deal, Iran must immediately stop and reverse all activities inconsistent with its obligations.”
The spokesman said Britain is coordinating with other countries that are part of the accord “regarding the next steps under the terms of the deal, including a joint commission.”
The left-leaning European Union says parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are discussing a possible emergency meeting after Iran’s announcement that it will overstep the accord’s limit on uranium enrichment.
EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said Sunday that the bloc is “extremely concerned” about Iran’s decision to ramp up enrichment beyond the 3.67 percent limit.
She says the EU has warned Iran against such moves.
Amid growing tensions in the region, she told The Associated Press that the EU is in contact with other parties to the accord to discuss next steps, “including a joint commission.”
The agreement’s joint commission brings together officials from the participating nations — Iran, France, Germany, Britain, Russia, China and the EU. The U.S. pulled out of the accord last year.
According to the New York Times Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, who signaled in May that he would order the country’s engineers to cross both thresholds if Europe did not compensate Iran for American sanctions, the breach of the enrichment limit would be a watershed.
He is betting that the United States will back away from crushing sanctions or that he can split European nations from the Trump administration, which the Europeans blame for setting off the crisis.
If he is wrong, the prospect of military confrontation lurks over each escalation.
In violating the limits on uranium enrichment, Tehran still remains far from producing a nuclear weapon.
It would take a major production surge, and enrichment to far higher levels, for Iran to develop a bomb’s worth of highly enriched uranium, experts say.
It would take even longer to manufacture that material into a nuclear weapon.
