EU, Iran try to stand ground against Trump’s sanctions
The countries working to save the Iranian nuclear deal have various reasons for doing so, and one could be concern that US President Donald Trump’s unilateral decisions won’t stop with Tehran.
When Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi announced July 7 that Iran would surpass the uranium enrichment limits it had committed to under the 2015 nuclear arms deal, it was nothing like the last time Tehran said it would break an international enrichment deal.
In 2005, then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared before cameras wearing a nuclear engineer’s uniform, removing the seals from centrifuges. It was a scene portrayed in Iranian media as a heroic act.
This time, it was a midlevel official who announced Iran would increase its level of uranium enrichment beyond the 3.67% agreed to in the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He noted the changes had already been presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He said Iran doesn’t need to add new centrifuges to its enrichment cycle because Iran’s action is based on its need. Currently, that need is apparently 4.5%.
On July 16, the Tehran Times reported that Kamalvandi said, “Enrichment is like a high-speed rail whose next station after 4.5% is 20%.” He added, “For the time being, the country doesn’t need enrichment at 20% purity.”
