WarSclerotic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear arms Wednesday, hours after Iran declared it would step up enrichment activity as the 2015 nuclear deal appeared close to crumbling.

Netanyahu has been one of the leading critics of the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. The US pulled out of the deal in May 2018, and Iran marked the one-year anniversary of that move by announcing it was pulling out of some commitments under the deal and could soon begin ramping up its enrichment activity again.

“We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu said at an official ceremony to mark the annual Memorial Day held at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

The comment was the first from an Israeli official on the matter. Netanyahu has cheered US President Doanld Trump’s decision to pull out of the landmark deal and urged other signatories to do the same.

Earlier Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said during a televised speech from Tehran that the Islamic Republic would keep its excess enriched uranium and heavy water, and set a 60-day deadline for new terms for its nuclear deal.

He threatened that higher-level uranium enrichment would resume if new nuclear deal terms were not reached by the deadline.

Rouhani said Iran wanted to negotiate new terms with remaining partners in the deal, but acknowledged that the situation was dire.

“If the five countries join negotiations and help Iran to reach its benefits in the field of oil and banking, Iran will return to its commitments according to the nuclear deal,” Rouhani said.

In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani speaks in a cabinet meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 8, 2019. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

Iran sent letters Wednesday on its decision to the leaders of Britain, China, the European Union, France and Germany. All were signatories to the nuclear deal and continue to support it. A letter was also to go to Russia.

Also reacting to the announcement, China called on all parties to uphold the Iranian nuclear pact.

“Maintaining and implementing the comprehensive agreement is the shared responsibility of all parties,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a regular press briefing.

“We call on all relevant parties to exercise restraint, strengthen dialogue, and avoid escalating tensions,” he said, adding that China “resolutely opposes” unilateral US sanctions against Iran.

There was no immediate response from the US.

Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in May last year but the other five signatories have all agreed to try to keep the pact alive on their own. Trump insists the original agreement did not go far enough in curbing Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions and wants to renegotiate the JCPOA with stricter terms, reimposing harsh sanctions to force Iran back to the negotiating table.

Adding to the tensions, Washington announced it was deploying an aircraft carrier strike group with several nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East, and national security adviser John Bolton warned Washington would respond with “unrelenting force” to any attack by Tehran.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a hastily organized visit to neighboring Iraq on Tuesday, where he accused Iran of planning “imminent” attacks.

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran’s already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven’t alleviated the pain.

Under terms of the deal, Iran can keep a stockpile of no more than 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of low-enriched uranium. That’s compared to the 10,000 kilograms (22,046 pounds) of higher-enriched uranium it once had.

The US last week ended deals allowing Iran to exchange its enriched uranium for unrefined yellowcake uranium with Russia, as well as it being able to sell its heavy water to Oman. The US also has ended waivers for nations buying Iranian crude oil, a key source of revenue for Iran’s government.

Currently, the accord limits Iran to enriching uranium to 3.67%, which can fuel a commercial nuclear power plant. Weapons-grade uranium needs to be enriched to around 90%. However, once a country enriches uranium to around 20%, scientists say the time needed to reach 90% is halved. Iran has previously enriched to 20%.

Iran said Wednesday it was suspending some of its commitments under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with major powers abandoned by Washington last year, setting up a possible return to high-level uranium enrichment.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic Republic will keep its excess enriched uranium and heavy water, setting a 60-day deadline for new terms for its nuclear deal.

He threatened higher uranium enrichment would resume if new nuclear deal terms not reached by the deadline, in a highly anticipated speech on the one-year anniversary of the US pulling out of the deal.

Tehran sent a letter to the five remaining powers in the nuclear deal ahead of the speech by Rouhani, in which he detailed Iran’s plans for pulling back its commitments under the pact.

“The decision of the high security council to ‘stop acting on some of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s commitments under the (nuclear deal)’ was communicated to the heads of state” of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, the ministry said.

It said deputy Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi had handed the decision to the ambassadors of the five countries in a meeting on Wednesday.

The IRNA news agency said Rouhani would explain Iran’s decision in the letters to leaders of Britain, France and Germany that were handed to ambassadors in Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif separately will write to the European Union, the agency said.

Zarif arrived Tuesday in Moscow where he declared that the measures Iran was taking were permitted within the framework of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“The Islamic republic has seen it suitable to stop acting on some of its commitments and measures it voluntarily undertook” under the nuclear deal, Zarif told state television.

Emphasizing that “Iran will not withdraw” from the deal, Zarif said “this right has been set for Iran in the JCPOA; we are not operating outside of the JCPOA but are in fact working in its framework.”

He said the measures were in line with Sections 26 and 36 of the deal, which allow Iran to cease some or all of its commitments if the United States or other parties fail to adhere to the agreement, including by reimposing sanctions.

In this photo from April 24, 2018, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during the 72nd High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace at United Nations Headquarters in New York. (Hector Retamal/AFP)

Speaking to reporters before meeting his Russian counterpart Zarif said “Unfortunately, the European Union and other members of the international community were not capable of standing up to the US’ pressures,” Iran’s state television reported.

The letters came as officials in the Islamic Republic previously warned that Iran might increase its uranium enrichment, potentially pulling away from a deal it has sought to salvage for months.

US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in May last year but the other five signatories have all agreed to try to keep the pact alive on their own. Trump insists the original agreement did not go far enough in curbing Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions and wants to renegotiate the JCPOA with stricter terms.

In the meantime, Washington has imposed heavy sanctions on Iran that could weaken the ability of the remaining parties to maintain the deal.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of planning “imminent” attacks on a hastily organised visit to neighboring Iraq on Tuesday.

Washington has also deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and several massive, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East as national security adviser John Bolton warned Washington would respond with “unrelenting force” to any attack by Tehran.

Zarif dismissed the US military deployments and stressed that Iran’s actions were not in breach of the nuclear deal it signed with major powers.

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran’s already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven’t alleviated the pain.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at a ceremony commemorating the ‘National Day of Nuclear Technology’ in Tehran, Iran on, April 9, 2019. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

The US last week stopped issuing waivers for countries importing Iranian crude oil, a crucial source of cash for Iran’s government. It also halted waivers allowing Iran to store excess heavy water in Oman and to swap enriched uranium for raw yellowcake with Russia.

Trump campaigned on a promise to tear up the deal struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama. While Trump has sought to dismantle much of Obama’s policies, he particularly criticized the Iran nuclear deal for failing to address Tehran’s ballistic missile program and what he described as its malign influence across the rest of the Mideast.

Already high tensions skyrocketed this week as US National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Sunday that the United States was sending an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in a “clear and unmistakable” message to Iran.