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.
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.
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.
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