Global News

Washington is up in arms over Teheran’s decision to further scale back its commitments under the same nuclear deal the US single-handedly demolished last year, accusing Iran of “extorting” the international community.

The US State Department came out swinging after Iran’s atomic energy authority confirmed it would embark on enriching uranium at a 5-percent level at its Fordow plant starting on Wednesday, continuing past the 3.67-percent cap set out by the nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Resuming uranium enrichment at this previously clandestine site is only the latest Iranian attempt to extort the international community.” 

The stepped up enrichment activity – which would see uranium gas injected into Fordow’s centrifuges – is part of an Iranian countermeasure to Washington’s abrogation of the nuclear accord last year. As with other steps it has taken away from the deal, Tehran insists Wednesday’s move is reversible, saying the ball is now in Europe’s court to resist a raft of crippling secondary sanctions imposed by Washington.

In line with its typically hawkish Iran policy, the State Department argues that Teheran is squarely to blame for the near-demise of the deal, although it was the US withdrawal and the subsequent “maximum pressure” campaign that prompted Iranian retaliation.

“We have made clear that Iran’s expansion of uranium enrichment activities in defiance of key nuclear commitments is a big step in the wrong direction, and underscores the continuing challenge Iran poses to international peace and security,” the State Department spokesman said Tuesday.

The spokesman also cast doubt on Iran’s assurance that its countermeasures are reversible.

“The knowledge Iran could gain over time from R&D work on new centrifuge designs represents irreversible learning that could ultimately shorten Iran’s breakout time to a nuclear weapon if it decided to pursue one,” he said.

While Washington’s unilateral bulldozing of the accord is the primary reason why Iran is now violating its terms, the State Department spokesman used the occasion to heap scorn on the agreement itself, calling it a “flawed deal.”