(Newswire.net — July 4, 2019) — The threats Iran had been promising for weeks came true on Monday. Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif for the first time announced that Iran had significantly violated the limitations of the nuclear agreement with world powers concerning uranium supplies.
The problem is only a few more pounds of uranium than Iran is permitted under the agreement. However, Iran made a step towards larger stocks.
Although the U.S. unilaterally left the nuclear deal a year ago, Iran and the other parties in the agreement generally respected the conditions. Iranian leaders, however, warned that they have no reason to follow the agreement unless they can see economic benefits of the agreement. Given that the U.S. is persistently introducing new sanctions that paralyze the country, the agreement didn’t make sense anymore.
The White House issued a statement saying that it was a mistake that Iran was allowed to enrich uranium in accordance with the agreement. ”The United States and its allies will never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons,” the statement said.
Violation of the agreement is just a small but significant step on the path to developing nuclear weapons which analysts say could happen within a year.
Iran has surpassed the limits of the agreement in the past (a centrifuge for the enrichment of uranium and supplies of heavy water), but this is the first time that the country is proudly announcing the breach of the agreement which indicates this wouldn’t be an isolated case.
Foreign minister Zarif, however, pointed to the possibility of honoring the agreament, depending on the fulfillment of Europe’s obligations, which is under tremendous pressure of the U.S. who forbids buying oil from Iran.
The European Union now has a huge role to play: Weather to corrupt their relationship with the U.S. which could lead to serious consequences, or to contribute to a war against Iran which could lead to even greater consequences to the entire world, analysts say. None the less, it is a problem for newly elected EU parliament to solve.
Iran is trying to provoke divisions between the United States and its European allies, who have opposed the withdrawal from the agreement.
The US President Donald Trump did not want to say what the US would do in such a scenario.