US accuses Iran of ‘nuclear extortion’ as Tehran resumes uranium enrichment at underground Fordow plant

The United States accused Iran on Tuesday of “nuclear extortion” and vowed no let-up in pressure after the clerical regime said it would resume uranium enrichment at the key underground Fordow plant. “Iran has no credible reason to expand its uranium enrichment programme, at the Fordow facility or elsewhere, other than a clear attempt at nuclear extortion that will only deepen its political and economic isolation,” a US State Department spokesperson said. “We will continue to impose maximum pressure on the regime until it abandons its destabilising behaviour, including proliferation-sensitive work.” The State Department said it would await verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog which stepped up inspection under a 2015 nuclear accord with the United States and five other powers. President Hassan Rowhani said on Tuesday that enrichment would resume at the plant near the Shiite holy city of Qom that was suspended under the 2015 agreement. It was the latest action by Iran to seek tangible benefits from the deal, from which the United States withdrew as President Donald Trump imposed sweeping sanctions aimed at reducing Tehran’s regional role. But Washington’s abandonment of the deal in May last year followed by its reimposition of crippling sanctions prompted Iran to begin a phased suspension of its own commitments in May this year. Under the terms of the agreement, Iran has retained more than 1,000 first-generation centrifuges at the Fordow plant, which have been running empty or remained idle since it took effect. “Starting from [Wednesday], we will begin injecting [uranium hexafluoride] gas at Fordow,” Rowhani said in a speech broadcast by state television. His announcement came a day after tensions flared anew on the 40th anniversary of the US embassy siege and hostage crisis, with thousands in Tehran taking to the streets and Washington imposing fresh sanctions. Iran said the resumption of enrichment at Fordow would be carried out transparently and witnessed by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. But the European Union voiced disquiet at the new step away from the 2015 deal. US launched cyberstrike on Iran after attack on Saudi oil facilities “We are concerned by President Rowhani’s announcement today to further reduce Iran’s commitments,” EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters. France urged Iran to “go back on its decisions, which contradict the accord.” Russia too expressed worry, despite its good relations with Iran. “We are monitoring the development of the situation with concern,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We support the preservation of this deal.” At the same time, Peskov said Moscow understood Tehran’s concerns over the “unprecedented and illegal sanctions” imposed by Washington. The move is the fourth announced by Iran since it began responding to Washington’s abandonment of the agreement. Iran has repeatedly warned the remaining parties to the deal – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia – that the agreement can only be rescued if they help it circumvent US sanctions. European governments have strived to come up with a mechanism that would allow foreign firms to continue to do business with Iran without incurring US penalties. But to Iran’s mounting frustration, their efforts have so far failed to have any significant impact. Iranian oil tanker hit by suspected missile strikes near Saudi coast Rowhani stressed that Iran remained committed to efforts to save the 2015 agreement, despite its phased suspension of some of its commitments. “The fourth phase, like the three previous ones, is reversible,” he said. “We are committed to all the behind-the-scenes negotiations we have with some countries for a solution. Over the next two months, we will negotiate more.” Rowhani said Iran wanted to return to a situation in which “we can easily sell our oil, we can easily use our money in banks”. If that were achieved, “we will completely go back to the previous situation”. The EU warned on Monday that its continued support for the deal depended “on full compliance by Iran”. “We have continued to urge Iran to reverse such steps without delay and to refrain from other measures that would undermine the nuclear deal,” Kocijancic said. But Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the measures were designed to increase Iran’s leverage in future talks and to pressure Western countries to provide Iran with economic relief. “This is not attempt to inch towards nuclear weapon,” she wrote on Twitter. “#IAEA continues to provide intrusive monitoring.” After 18 months, Iran releases widow of Iranian-Canadian who died in jail On July 1, Iran said it had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to beyond a 300-kg maximum set by the deal. A week later, it announced it had exceeded a 3.67-per cent cap on the purity of its uranium stocks. On September 7, it fired up advanced centrifuges to boost its enriched uranium stockpiles. On Monday, Iran announced a more than tenfold increase in enriched uranium production as a result of the steps back from the nuclear deal it had already undertaken. The country’s enriched uranium production has reached 5kg (11 pounds) per day, said Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, compared with 450 grams per day two months ago.

US accuses Iran of ‘nuclear extortion’ as Tehran resumes uranium enrichment at underground Fordow plant

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Move is Iran’s fourth step back from 2015 nuclear accord since Trump abandoned deal Country’s enriched uranium production has increased more than tenfold in two months

Move is Iran’s fourth step back from 2015 nuclear accord since Trump abandoned deal

Country’s enriched uranium production has increased more than tenfold in two months