Tabnak – Reacting to the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the failure of the remaining signatories to preserve Iran’s benefits, the Islamic Republic had announced it would reconsider its nuclear commitments. In the first step toward this direction, Tehran has formally announced that its enriched uranium stockpile has passed the JCPOA limit.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the country has increased the level of its low-enriched uranium production to over 300 kilograms as had been already announced by the country in line with Articles 26 and 36 of a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Zarif made the remarks on Monday while answering a question by Iran's ISNA news agency on the sidelines of a ceremony in the central Iranian city of Natanz.
“According to my information, Iran has surpassed the 300kg limit [in producing low-enriched uranium] and we had already announced [that we were planning to do] this,” Iran's top diplomat said. He added, “According to what has been announced, we have said very clearly what we are doing and consider this as part of our rights as per the JCPOA.”
Iran's foreign minister added that the country had already announced that if steps taken by Europeans to compensate any possible losses to Iran following unilateral withdrawal of the US from the JCPOA were not adequate, it would take steps to reduce its commitments in return.
In a statement on Monday, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Zarif’s remarks. “We can confirm that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has informed the Board of Governors that the Agency verified on 1 July that Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile exceeded (the deal’s limit),” an IAEA spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted an “informed source” saying that Iran will definitely carry out the second step to reduce its JCPOA commitments in due time, most likely on July 7, given that its conditions have not been met and the INSTEX has proved totally insufficient for Iran’s needs.
The reason why Iran has not announced the result of first moves to scale down the JCPOA commitments is that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will probably declare the issue in the coming days, the source noted.
As regards China and the UK’s plan to continue cooperation with Iran in redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor, the informed source said those two countries have announced in the final statement of the JCPOA joint commission meeting in Vienna that they will finish redesigning the Iranian reactor in due time.
If this process goes on correctly, another subject will replace the issue of Arak reactor in the second step of reduction in Iran’s commitments to the JCPOA, the source added.
On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the nuclear accord. Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord. However, the EU’s failure of ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments under JCPOA in May 2019.
