Iran to inject uranium into centrifuges, moving further from 2015 nuclear accord

By: Mark M.

Iran will begin injecting uranium gas into more than a thousand centrifuges at one of its nuclear plants, the country’s president said Tuesday, marking another step away from the landmark 2015 deal signed with the world powers.

President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address that 1,044 machines at the Fordow nuclear facility, which is built inside a mountain near the city of Qom, will be activated with the gas beginning on Wednesday.

Under the Obama-era accord, Iran can spin the centrifuges without gas.

But Rouhani, noting that this action like all others it has taken so far is reversible, said the Islamic Republic will follow the pact’s guidelines when the remaining signatories – France, Britain, Germany, the European Union, Russia and China – honor their commitments.

“We know their sensitivity with regard to Fordow. With regard to these centrifuges, we know. But at the same time when they uphold their commitments we will cut off the gas again … So it is possible to reverse this step,” Rouhani said. “We can’t unilaterally accept that we completely fulfill our commitments and they don’t follow up on their commitments.”

Tehran on Monday said it had launched a new group of advanced centrifuges to accelerate uranium enrichment, another breach of the accord.

The country has been steadily moving away from compliance since President Trump pulled out of the deal last year and imposed punishing economic sanctions intended to force Iran to the negotiating table.

It has exceeded uranium stockpile and enrichment limits.

Rouhani has been trying to pressure the European countries, which were critical of Trump for withdrawing the US from the deal, to help it weather the sanctions.

The European Union urged Rouhani not to put the 2015 accord at risk.

“We are concerned by President Rouhani’s announcement today to further reduce Iran’s commitment under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” a spokeswoman said, referring to its formal title.

“We urge Iran to reverse all activities that are inconsistent with its commitments under the JCPOA … it is increasingly difficult to preserve the JCPOA.”Russia also said it wanted to keep the deal in place.

“We are monitoring the development of the situation with concern,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We support the preservation of this deal.”