Politics
20:58, 30-Apr-2018
Iran: It can produce higher enriched uranium if US exits nuclear deal
["china"]
Share
Copied
Iran has the technical capability to enrich uranium to a higher level than it could before a multinational nuclear deal was reached to curb its nuclear program, state TV quoted the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy organization Ali Akbar Salehi as saying.
US President Donald Trump has given European signatories to the 2015 deal a May 12 deadline to “fix the terrible flaws” in the agreement, or he will refuse to extend US sanctions relief on Iran.
Uranium refined to 20-percent fissile purity is well beyond the 5 percent normally required to fuel civilian nuclear power plants, though still well short of the highly enriched, or 80-90 percent, purity needed for a nuclear bomb.
Salehi warned Trump against taking this course. “Iran is not bluffing... Technically, we are fully prepared to enrich uranium higher than we used to produce before the deal was reached... I hope Trump comes to his senses and stays in the deal.”
Under the deal, which led to the lifting of most international sanctions in 2016, Iran’s level of enrichment must remain around 3.6 percent.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin along with French President Emmanuel Macron showed their support on the Iran nuclear accord, calling for "strict observance" of it. The US side is still yet to decide whether it will quit from the deal.
Read more: Kremlin: Putin, Macron agree on keeping Iran nuclear accord
Source(s): Reuters