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Britain, France and Germany expressed “grave” concerns on Wednesday that Iran would start enriching uranium to as high as 20 percent at one of its facilities.
A joint statement issued by the three countries stated that “this unjustified act that carries great risks related to (nuclear) proliferation is a clear violation of Iran’s promises regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the so-called nuclear agreement) and further empties the agreement of its content. “
The statement described Tehran’s decision to increase uranium enrichment from around 4 to 20 percent as a “dangerous negative development that undermines the commitment of the signatories to the nuclear deal.”
The European statement added that Iran’s decision “also jeopardizes a great opportunity to return to diplomacy with the next US administration,” referring to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.
The statement added: “We strongly urge Iran to stop enriching uranium by 20 percent, without delay, so that the enrichment program returns to the limits agreed in the agreement and refrains from taking any other intensive measures that reduce the room for effective diplomacy. “
In their statement, the three countries also indicated that they are now “in close contact with the other parties involved in the agreement to assess how best to deal with Iran’s non-compliance with the agreement framework.”
And on Monday, the Iranian government news site “dolat.ir” quoted government spokesman Ali Rabiei as saying that Iran had officially started enriching uranium by 20 percent at the “Fordo” nuclear facility.
The nuclear deal concluded with the major countries – Russia, Great Britain, China, the United States, France and Germany – in 2015 did not allow Tehran to enrich uranium by more than 3.67 percent.
In May 2018, Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal and imposed tough economic sanctions on Tehran aimed at strangling the Iranian economy and limiting Tehran’s regional influence.
