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Iran set to surpass uranium enrichment limits

China Daily | Updated: 2019-07-08 07:40

TEHERAN - Iran announced on Sunday that it is set to break a limit set on uranium enrichment, breaching the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, as it attempts to press remaining signatories to the endangered pact into keeping their side of the bargain.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a Sunday news conference that Teheran is ramping up the level of uranium enrichment beyond the 3.67 percent level permitted under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Under the deal, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran agreed to enrich uranium to no more than 3.67 percent, which is enough for peaceful pursuits but is far below weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

Araghchi said the new level will be determined by Iran's needs, but did not provide specifics. He said the new level would show up in monitoring by Monday.

The deputy foreign minister also said Teheran will "take another step" affecting its compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal within 60 days. He did not elaborate on the details of that step.

On July 1, the Iranian government announced it had broken for the first time the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by the nuclear deal.

In a last-minute diplomatic bid, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani by phone on Saturday, saying he was trying to find a way by July 15 to resume dialogue between Iran and Western partners.

Iran has reiterated it is still open to diplomacy, as Araghchi added that Iran still "considers the deal to be valid and wants to see it continue".

On May 8, exactly a year on from US President Donald Trump announced that the US would withdraw from the multilateral deal, Rouhani threatened to "take more actions" in case Teheran's interests under the pact cannot be guaranteed.

Washington's withdrawal from the pact has worsened its relations with Teheran and caused tensions in the Middle East region. Despite the US pullout, other signatories said they remain committed to the deal, namely the European Union, Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Response to US pullout

Wang Jin, a Middle East researcher at Northwest University in China, said Iran's latest move is in response to a failure by the European Union to keep its promise to help Iran work around sanctions reimposed by the US in the second half of last year.

Wang noted that Iran is arguing that its breach of the enriched uranium cap is not a violation of the accord and is instead a response to the US pullout under the terms of the nuclear deal, adding that it can reduce its commitment under a separate provision.

"Apart from the US, other remaining signatories still support the deal and are making efforts to salvage it, urging Iran to refrain from further measures that undermine the deal," Wang said.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also said China called on all relevant parties to jointly safeguard the 2015 deal and avoid escalating tensions.

Pan Mengqi in Beijing, AP, Xinhua, and Reuters contributed to this story.

(China Daily 07/08/2019 page12)

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