Iran says it will break stockpile limit set by 2015 nuclear deal

A spokesman for Iran’s atomic agency said Monday that the country will break the uranium stockpile limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in the next 10 days.

Behrouz Kamalvandi made the comment in a news conference carried live on Iranian state television.

“Today the countdown to pass the 300 kilograms reserve of enriched uranium has started and in 10 days time we will pass this limit,” he said, putting the date for the breach of a key provision of the agreement at June 27.

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He spoke to local journalists at Iran’s Arak heavy water facility.

His comments come in the wake of suspected attacks on oil tankers last week in the region that the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and others have blamed on Iran while Tehran has hinted the US is responsible. That incident came after four other oil tankers off Fujairah suffered similar attacks in recent weeks, and Iranian-allied rebels from Yemen have struck US ally Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles.

File photo showing the interior of the Arak heavy water production facility in Arak, Iran, October 27, 2004. (AP/Fars News Agancy, File)

Kamalvandi acknowledged that the country had already quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium.

He added that Tehran will increase uranium enrichment levels “based on the country’s needs.”

He said that increase could be to any level above the 3.67% that is the current limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Kamalvandi’s comments come a day after Iran’s regime-linked Tasnim news agency said officials were preparing to announce “preparatory steps that have been taken to further decrease Tehran’s commitments under the deal,” according to a translation by Reuters.

The country’s nuclear agency would also announce “very important information” regarding the “limitless increase of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile,” according to the Mehr news agency in a Sunday report.

US President Donald Trump, left, on July 22, 2018, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on February 6, 2018. (AP Photo)

The move is part of Iran’s recent 60-day ultimatum to the European Union for renegotiating the pact after the US withdrew from it and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Monday’s press briefing was also expected to include information on recent steps to redesign the Arak reactor and increase its production of heavy water, the report said.

Last month, Iran formally dropped the limitations on uranium enrichment and the production of heavy water that were laid down in the nuclear deal, citing its ultimatum to the EU, which it accuses of failing to protect Iran against the renewed US sanctions.

Under the terms of the nuclear deal, Iran can keep a stockpile of no more than 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of low-enriched uranium. That’s compared to the 10,000 kilograms (22,046 pounds) of higher-enriched uranium it once had. It is also capped at storing 300 tons of heavy water, which it sells to Oman for use as a coolant in nuclear reactors.

The Trump administration pulled America out of the deal in May 2018, saying it does nothing to stop Iran from developing missiles or destabilizing the Middle East. The Europeans insist that the pact is an important pillar of regional and global security and was never meant to address those other issues.