Iran Disregards Uranium Enrichment Limits
Iran began pouring concrete for the second nuclear reactor at its Bushehr power plant on November 13, the Hartford Courant reports. The plant runs on uranium produced by Russia, a signatory to the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. However, Iran has begun to exceed the deal’s uranium enrichment limits. Iran’s current enrichment level stands around only a percentage point over the 3.67 percent limit; while weapons-grade enrichment levels must exceed 90 percent, the increase still worries nonproliferation experts who believe that it expedites Iran’s atomic weapon development timeline should Iran pursue one. Iran maintains that the enrichment program is solely for peaceful purposes such as energy but agreed to curtail the program in 2015 in exchange for sanctions relief.
Since President Donald Trump’s May 2018 departure from the deal and the resulting U.S. sanctions, Iran has slowly been increasing its uranium enrichment levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported on November 11 that Iran’s current capacity to enrich uranium is 25 times more than what it was when Trump pulled out of the deal, according to Bloomberg. In the last quarter, Iran’s nuclear stockpile has increased by almost two-thirds, and Iran now enriches 100kg (220lbs) of uranium a month, compared to just 4kg (8.8lbs) in June 2019, when Iran was still abiding by the conditions of the deal.
Before July, Iran adhered to the nuclear deal, hoping that European aid would help soften the blow of U.S. sanctions, according to Bloomberg. When such aid never appeared, Iran began breaking their earlier promises. When asked about the deal, Ali Akbat Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said, “it was not us who started breaking commitments, it was them who did not keep to their commitments and cannot accept the nuclear deal as a one-way roadmap,” according to the Hartford Courant.
Iran’s recent activities have drawn mixed responses from different countries, as they mark the latest in a series of hostile Iranian actions that began with the destruction of an American drone. BBC reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of having a “secret atomic warehouse,” but the Iranian government has denied the allegations, claiming that the facility in question was simply a carpet cleaning factory. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have all said that they were “extremely concerned” with Iran’s actions, but President Hassan Rouhani has insisted that the enrichment is not meant for any weaponry. The European Union (EU) remains dedicated to the deal; EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said, “Full commitment to the agreement remains crucial for our security, even if it is increasingly difficult to preserve it.”
Rouhani asserted that he would have reached a compromise in his September visit to New York if “someone other than Trump” were president, according to Al-Monitor.