Iran removes uranium enrichment limits in aftermath of Soleimani strike

JANUARY 5, 2020 21:15

Tehran moved closer to the resumption of a nuclear weapons program when it announced on Sunday that it would not place any limits on its uranium enrichment and production.

It’s the latest in a series of Iranian announcements, in which it has renounced portions of the 2015 deal to curb its nuclear program. The statement about the deal comes two-days after the US targeted killing of Tehran’s top military commander Qassem Soleimani.

But Iran has been expected to announce further rollbacks of the deal, as part of its pressure campaign to sway Europe to pressure the United States to scale back its stiff economic sanctions against Iran.

Iranian state television announced the decision not to limit uranium production.

The station cited a government statement as saying Iran would not respect any limits set down in the pact on the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges it could use, which meant there would be no limits on its enrichment capacity, the level to which uranium could be enriched, or Iran’s nuclear research and development. These would from now on be based on Iran’s technical needs.

The spokesman said Iran’s steps could be reversed if Washington lifted its sanctions on Tehran. Tehran, however, plans to continue to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, according to state television.

Iran had signed the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with the six world powers; the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The deal aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear program and delay any production of nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of stiff international sanctions.

It left the deal last year and reimposed sanctions, in hopes that it could re-open negotiations for a broader deal that would halt its nuclear program and also deal with the ballistic missile threat from Iran.