Iran partially withdraws from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal signed with six other nations, President Hassan Rouhani announced on Wednesday and warned that his country will resume high level uranium enrichment if global powers fail to keep their commitments within the next 60 days. His announcement comes exactly a year after the US abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) it had signed with Iran along with Russia, China, France and the UK plus Germany as co-signatories.
Rouhani said Tehran was reducing its own commitments under the agreement and would no longer respect limits on its reserves of low-enriched uranium — currently limited to 300 kg — and heavy water. Rouhani issued a 60-day moratorium for rest of the signatories of the pact to fulfil Iran’s demands and save the country’s banking system and oil trade from international sanctions.
Meanwhile, China urged all parties to uphold the Iranian nuclear deal after Tehran announced to partially pull out of the pact by resuming high uranium enrichment. Also, the decision to send an aircraft carrier and a group of Air Force bombers to the Middle East was based in part on intelligence indications that Iran had moved short-range ballistic missiles by boat in waters off its shores. Britain: It is an ‘unwelcome step’ London: Britain on Wednesday called Iran’s decision to no longer respect the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers an “unwelcome step” that could lead to new Western sanctions. “Today’s announcement from Tehran is, I have to say to the House, an unwelcome step. We urge Iran not to take further escalatory steps and to stand by its commitments,” Foreign Office minister Mark Field told parliament.
