Iran has announced that it will breach the 2015 nuclear agreement in ten days unless European states find a way to get around crippling US sanctions and bolster Iran’s faltering economy.
The ultimatum from Tehran is likely to trigger a desperate diplomatic scramble by European powers to save the unravelling nuclear deal and force Britain, France, and Germany to consider what they will do if Iran openly breaks the accord.
The new threat comes amid already heightened tensions after the US accused Iran of attacking six oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman over the last month. Iran denies responsibility.
Iran’s atomic energy organisation said Monday that on June 27 it will blow past the limits to its enriched uranium stockpile which were enshrined in the nuclear agreement.
The 2015 deal stated that Iran was able to hold up to 300kg of low-grade uranium but Iran said it would no longer respect that limit.
Iran also threatened to resume enrichment of high-grade uranium, the kind that could eventually be used for a nuclear weapon. It did not set a precise date for when it would resume such enrichment, which would also breach the nuclear deal.