Western leaders’ apprehensions over Iran owning nuclear capability had lead to the 2015 nuclear deal which limited its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Iran President Hassan Rouhani speaking during the opening of a factory in the capital Tehran. - . (Photo by HO / Iranian Presidency / AFP)
President of Iran Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday said that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an underground plant south of Tehran in its latest step back from a collapsing 2015 agreement with major world powers.
The suspension of all enrichment at the Fordow plant in the mountains near the Shiite holy city of Qom was one of the restrictions on its nuclear activities that Iran accepted in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Rouhani also announced that Iran now has a prototype centrifuge which works 50 times faster than those allowed in deal. The announcement comes on the 40th anniversary of the 1979 US embassy takeover that initiated 444-day hostage crisis.
Washington’s abandonment of the deal in May last year followed by its re imposition of crippling sanctions prompted Iran to begin a phased suspension of its own commitments in May this year. The acquirement of centrifuges has got Iran closer to building a nuclear weapon if it chooses to. However, Tehran has always denied the ambitions of owning a nuclear weapon and has maintained that it wants to use nuclear capability for peaceful purposes.
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Western leaders’ apprehensions over Iran owning nuclear capability had lead to the 2015 nuclear deal which limited its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
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