Iran Pushes Ahead With Nuclear Program

Iran on Monday announced a major breach of the now largely meaningless 2015 nuclear deal, cranking up its uranium enrichment to 20% purity at the underground Fordow facility, up from the 4.5%-pure uranium it was producing in recent months. Tehran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif stressed that all of Iran’s moves were “fully reversible, upon FULL compliance by ALL.” The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, reached by Iran, the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, stipulated that the Islamic Republic curtail its nuclear efforts and enrich uranium to a purity level of no more than 3.67%, in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Yet after President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the pact, Iran announced it would gradually reboot its program. On Tuesday, a delegation of South Korean diplomats arrived in Tehran to negotiate the release of a South Korean-flagged oil tanker, seized by Iran shortly before its uranium announcement on Monday. The holding of the vessel is believed to be another leveraging tool in the poverty-stricken country’s attempts to receive the $7 billion it is owed by Seoul for oil sales, currently withheld because of US sanctions.