Iran Strikes Back with Letter of Intent to Accelerate Uranium Enrichment Preparation

Firing a shot across the American bow, Iran has notified the International Atomic Energy Agency that it has told its nuclear teams to prepare to increase the capacity of uranium enrichment. The move comes after the United States pulled out of the international agreement between Tehran and Western nations and according to a statement by the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a message about what could be if the agreement is not fixed. The deal allows enrichment to proceed albeit at a level lower than the Iranians were operating at before the pact. If Tehran picks up the pace and enriches at a higher rate, it is presumed that it still will not meet the level necessary to weaponize the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. The Iranian threat is one more effort to get the Europeans to convince the Americans to rescind its withdrawal from the nuclear agreement.