EU warns Iran's uranium enrichment ambitions could imperil US return to nuclear deal

EU official supervising the agreement regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions has warned that Tehran's decision to ramp up uranium enrichment could undermine efforts to keep the deal alive and bring the United States back on board. According to AP reports, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the country’s aim of enriching uranium up to 20 percent at the Fordo facility is a "very serious" development. He also said that it is a matter of concern as it has "very severe proliferation implications." 

Last week, Iran started enriching uranium in violation of the nuclear agreement, saying that it is no longer obliged to respect limits laid out in the pact. This is because Tehran believes that US President Donald Trump violated the deal first by pulling Washington out of the deal in the year 2018, followed by many sanctions on Iran. The deal offered economic incentives to Iran, however, when US sanctions were imposed, the other signatories including China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom struggled to provide Iran any sort of assistance. 

Read: Iran Warns Of Expelling United Nations Nuclear Inspectors If US Doesn't Lift Sanctions

Biden hopes to get back 

Meanwhile, Joe Biden expressed his hopes about making the US a part of the deal again. Regarding this, Borrell said, "At this critical juncture, Iran’s action also risks undermining efforts aimed at building upon the existing diplomatic process. We urge Iran to refrain from further escalation and reverse this course of action without delay." 

However, Iran has said that it will expel the United Nations nuclear watchdog inspector from the country if Washington fails to lift the economic sanctions before February 21. Iran's parliament passed a law in December, requiring the government to suspend inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and also increase the enrichment of uranium way above the set limit under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Read: EU Warns Iran Enrichment Moves Could Imperil Nuclear Deal

An Iranian lawmaker, while speaking to the press, said that Tehran will implement the other half of the law and will definitely expel the IAEA inspector if the United States doesn't lift the sanctions. The Iranian government has said that it is willing to implement the law passed by the parliament which came in wake of the country's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's assassination. 

After US President Donald Trump won the elections in 2016, he withdrew the United States from the Obama-era deal, calling it "rotten". The United States left the Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action (JCPOA) in 2018 despite other members urging it not to do so. The US reimposed all sanctions on Iran, pushing Tehran to violate the deal because one of the key agreements of the agreement was that all economic embargoes against the Islamic Republic would be lifted and, in return, it will cap the enrichment purity level. 

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(Image Credits: AP)