Iran warns it will increase nuclear enrichment within days

Iran’s president warned European partners in its faltering nuclear deal yesterday that Tehran will increase its enrichment of uranium to “any amount that we want” beginning on Sunday, putting pressure on them to offer a way around intense US sanctions targeting the country. The comments by President Hassan Rouhani come as tensions remain high between Iran and the US over the deal, which President Donald Trump pulled America from over a year ago.

Authorities on Monday acknowledged Iran broke through a limit placed on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium. An increasing stockpile and higher enrichment closes the estimated one-year window Iran would need to produce enough material for a nuclear bomb, something Iran denies it wants but the nuclear deal sought to prevent. Meanwhile, the US has rushed an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and F-22 fighters to the region and Iran recently shot down a US military surveillance drone.

On Wednesday, Iran marked the shootdown by the US Navy of an Iranian passenger jet in 1988, a mistake that killed 290 people and shows the danger of miscalculation in the current crisis. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Tehran, Rouhani’s comments seemed to signal that Europe has yet to offer Iran anything to alleviate the pain of the renewed US sanctions targeting its oil industry and top officials.

Iran’s nuclear deal currently bars it from enriching uranium above 3.67 per cent, which is enough for nuclear power plants but far below the 90 percent needed for weapon-grade levels. “In any amount that we want, any amount that is required, we will take over 3.67,” Rouhani said.