The United States on Thursday called for “serious steps” to be taken after Iran resumed uranium enrichment at its underground Fordo plant in a new step back from its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal.
“Iran’s expansion of proliferation-sensitive activities raises concerns that Iran is positioning itself to have the option of a rapid nuclear breakout,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
“It is now time for all nations to reject this regime’s nuclear extortion and take serious steps to increase pressure.”
Iran resumed uranium enrichment at its underground Fordo plant south of Tehran on Thursday in a new step back from its commitments under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Engineers began feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into the plant’s mothballed enrichment centrifuges in “the first minutes of Thursday,” the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said.
The suspension of uranium enrichment at the long secret plant was one of the restrictions Iran had agreed to on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of UN sanctions.
Iran’s announcement that it would resume enrichment at the Fordo plant from midnight (2030 GMT Wednesday) had drawn a chorus of concern from the remaining parties to the troubled agreement.
The EU said Thursday it was “deeply concerned” by an incident involving an inspector with the UN’s nuclear watchdog last week in Iran which led to her having her accreditation canceled. READ MORE
