USA want "maximum pressure" on Iran | Currently World | '
The move had been expected days ago: out of frustration over the disappointing implementation of the nuclear agreement, Iran has now violated conditions for the first time. Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Sarif said that the amount of low-enriched uranium owned by the country is now more than the permitted 300 kilograms. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran has crossed the agreed border.
The reaction of the US was not long in coming. "They know what they are doing," President Donald Trump told reporters. "They know what they're playing with and I think they're playing with fire." Earlier, his presidential office said, "The maximum pressure on the Iranian regime will continue until its leaders change their course of action." It was a mistake that the nuclear agreement allowed Iran to enrich uranium at all – regardless of its level, the statement said. "The regime must end its nuclear ambitions and harmful behavior," it said. The United States and its allies would never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
EU foreign minister Mogherini with Iranian Foreign Minister Sarif in September in New York
The European Union called on Iran to withdraw the uranium enrichment decision. The country had been following the US agreement for 14 months to the agreement, said the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy Federica Mogherini. The EU remains committed to the agreement as long as Iran respects its nuclear commitments.
British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said he was "deeply worried": "We want to get this deal because we do not want Iran to get a nuclear weapon, but if Iran breaks the agreement, we're out there too."
Reminder of the UN
The Foreign Office in Berlin reported that Iran should reverse the excess of low-enriched uranium stocks and not further undermine the nuclear agreement. Together with other contractors, the next steps in the nuclear agreement will be carefully considered.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also encouraged Tehran to abide by the nuclear agreement. Exceeding the upper limit does not help the country economically.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani in 2015 visiting the Bushehr nuclear power plant
Iran's Foreign Minister Sarif had announced that he would exceed the limits not only in quantity but also in the degree of enrichment. Should the European states fail to save the nuclear agreement, their country will next enrich uranium slightly above the allowed level of 3.67 percent. Arms capable uranium must be enriched to about 90 percent. Before the conclusion of the nuclear agreement, Iran had made it to 20 percent.
Reaction to the sanctions policy
With these steps the Islamic Republic reacts above all to the sanctions policy of the USA. The Trump government had withdrawn from the agreement in 2018 and since then turned more and more to the sanction screw. The economic recovery that Iran once hoped for through facilitated imports and exports was torpedoed by these steps. The US punitive measures are directed in particular against Iran's oil and financial sector. They are massively economic for the country. Iran speaks of an economic war against its people.
The remaining partners of the agreement – Russia, China, France, Great Britain and Germany – have been trying for some time to save the deal. However, the promised support is confined to lip service, according to Iran. The country therefore set a 60-day deadline for European contractors in early May, within which they should take measures to offset the negative consequences for Iran.
In recent weeks, the situation has sharpened dramatically following a tightening of US punitive measures. There were several Gulf incidents that fueled fears of a US-Iran war. Only at the last minute did the US stop an air strike against Iran.
stu / wa (rtr, dpa)
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