Iran has breached the 300 kilograms of low-enriched uranium allowed under the 2015 international nuclear accord, both Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on Monday.

The IAEA "verified on July 1 that Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile exceeded 300 kilograms," a spokesperson said.

The amount is well below that needed to produce one nuclear weapon. But the breach shows that Iran intends to ratchet up its response to the United States withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) last year and its reimposition of harsh unilateral sanctions.

Read more: How Trump's sanctions are crippling Iran's economy

Iranian officials had said that the country would likely exceed the uranium limit this week if the remaining signatories to the nuclear deal — China, Germany, France, Britain and Russia — failed to find a way for Tehran to receive the economic benefits promised in exchange for dismantling its nuclear program.

Iran is allowed to enrich up to 300 kg of uranium to 3.67% under the terms of the JCPOA. It has not gone over the 3.67% threshold, but has threatened to do so by July 7. About 1500 kg of uranium enriched at around 90% is needed for one nuclear weapon.

Falling back under the 300 kg is easily reversible, and the remaining powers in the JCPOA would only become concerned if enrichment levels were ramped up to 20%, Francois Nicoullaud, a former French ambassador to Iran, told AFP.

"As long as Iran does not get close to a threshold of a ton of lightly enriched uranium, there is no pressing concern," Nicoullaud said. But if Iran "amassed, for example, a stock of 200 to 300 kilograms of uranium enriched to nearly 20% there would be cause for great concern."

The International Crisis Group, a conflict prevention non-profit, wrote in a January assessment that to strengthen its negotiating position Tehran "could creep past some of the JCPOA's boundaries both as a show of defiance and in hopes of pressuring the deal’s remaining parties to do more to save it."

The US exit from the deal and heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran in the Persian Gulf in recent months has had the European signatories to the JCPOA scrambling to save the accord.

After months of delay, European powers meeting with Iranian officials in Vienna last Friday announced the start of their so-called INSTEX scheme, a mechanism to facilitate EU-Iran trade in humanitarian goods not under US sanctions.

Trade between Europe and Iran has plummeted since the US imposed a raft of sanctions that have battered Iran's currency and sent its economy into recession. The Islamic Republic’s oil exports to the bloc are down to zero.

After the talks on Friday, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, said that Europe was not doing enough and for the INSTEX system to be useful "Europeans need to buy oil from Iran, or to consider credit lines for this mechanism."

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile has passed the 300 kilogram limit under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“I have been informed that Iran has passed 300-kilogram stockpile according to its plans and we had announced that earlier. Based on what had been announced, we have said very clearly what we do and consider it our rights within the framework of the JCPOA,” he told ISNA on the sidelines of a ceremony.

Under the JCPOA, Iran was only allowed to keep 300 kilograms of enriched uranium.

As a retaliation against the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA and reimposition of sanctions on Iran coupled with a failure by the European Union to compensate for the U.S. exit, Iran officially announced that Iran stops selling stockpiles of enriched uranium and heavy water for 60 days from May 8.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced on June 17 that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium will exceed 300 kilograms by June 27.

After June 27, Kamalvandi said, Iran will speed up its uranium enrichment activities beyond 3.67 percent if the other sides don’t take a practical step.

“After surpassing 300 kilograms, we will increase the speed of producing enriched uranium above 3.67 percent,” Kamalvandi stated. </s> Iran said European countries had offered too little in the way of trade assistance to persuade it to back off from its plan to breach the limit of Uranium production.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Monday his country has increased the level of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) production to over 300 kgs, breaching the limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

“According to my information, Iran has surpassed the 300kg limit [in producing low-enriched uranium] and we had already announced [that we were planning to do] this,” Zarif said to the ISNA news agency.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Iran’s steps to decrease its commitments to the nuclear deal were “reversible”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said later on Monday that its inspectors confirmed that Iran had accumulated more enriched uranium than allowed, the French news agency AFP said.

Last Wednesday, the IAEA verified that Iran had roughly 200 kg of low-enriched uranium, just below the deal’s 202.8 kg limit. A quantity of 300 kg of UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) corresponds to 202.8 kg of LEU.

After talks on Friday in Vienna, Iran said European countries had offered too little in the way of trade assistance to persuade it to back off from its plan to breach the limit, a riposte to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last year to quit the deal and reimpose economic sanctions.

Mousavi urged them Monday to step up their efforts. “Time is running out for them to save the deal,” state TV quoted him as saying.

The deal between Iran and six world powers lifted most international sanctions against Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear work aimed at extending the time Iran would need to produce a nuclear bomb, if it chose to, from roughly 2-3 months to a year.

Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, including generating power. </s> • Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said Monday the country has surpassed a limit enriched uranium outlined in the 2015 nuclear deal.
• The 300 kg limit was outlined in the Obama-era nuclear agreement as a “sunset clause” that was meant to expire in 2030.
• Iran initially stuck to this clause even after President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal last year.
• But since then it threatened to breach the limit amid fresh economic and military tensions with the US.
• Uranium enriched to 3.67% can be used in power plants, but not to build nuclear weapons, however.

Iran has surpassed its limit on enriched uranium stockpile as outlined in the 2015 nuclear deal, breaking a promise it was meant to keep until 2030.

The country’s stockpile of uranium, enriched to 3.67%, surpassed 300 kilograms as of Monday, according to the BBC, Reuters, and Iran’s semi-state-run Fars news agency on Monday.

The IAEA is the authority in charge of monitoring and verifying Iran’s uranium stockpile. Business Insider has contacted the IAEA for comment.

The 300 kg limit was outlined as a “sunset clause” – an agreement that will ultimately expire – in the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The limitation on uranium enrichment was meant to disappear in 2030.

Read more: Here’s what’s in the landmark nuclear deal that Iran is starting to walk away from amid tensions with Trump

The news comes after the US deployed its most advanced fighter jets, F-22 Raptors, to the Middle East amid increasing military tensions.

Iran kept to its nuclear deal commitments even after President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement last year.

However, after the US accused Iran of attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last month, Tehran changed its mind and said on June 17 that it would breach the nuclear stockpile limit in ten days.

European leaders unsuccessfully tried to persuade Iran to drop its plan to breach the limits on Friday.

Breaching the limit is a symbolic defiance of Trump, but will not really put Iran much closer to building a nuclear weapon, The Washington Post’s Loveday Morris noted.

The 3.67%-enriched uranium can be used in power plants but nuclear bombs require more than 90% enriched uranium, Morris said.

However, a stockpile of 1,050 kg could be further enriched into enough mateiral to build one nuclear bomb, the BBC reported, citing Arms Control Association.

The US has already crippled Iran economically with sanctions. Last week Trump signed new sanctions specifically targeting the country’s supreme leader. </s> Iran has begun enriching uranium to 4.5% – breaking the limit set by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, semi-official news agencies in the country reported.

The acknowledgement by the spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran comes a day after Iran pledged to break the deal’s limit of 3.67%.

The decision to ramp up uranium enrichment came less than a week after Iran acknowledged breaking the 300-kilogram limit on its low-enriched uranium stockpile.

Experts warn higher enrichment and a growing stockpile could begin to narrow the one-year window Iran would need to have enough material for an atomic bomb, something Iran denies it wants but the deal prevented.

The future of the accord that President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US from a year ago remains in question.

While Iran’s recent measures to increase enrichment and break its low-enriched uranium stockpile limit could be easily reversed, Europe has struggled to respond, even after getting a 60-day warning that the increase was coming.

Meanwhile, experts fear a miscalculation in the crisis could explode into open conflict, as President Trump already has nearly bombed Iran over Tehran shooting down a US military surveillance drone.

President Trump warned Tehran on Sunday that “Iran better be careful”.

He did not elaborate on what actions the US might consider, but he told reporters: “Iran’s doing a lot of bad things.”

Iran has been closely monitored by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

“We are aware of Iran’s announcement related to its uranium enrichment level,” the agency said. “We are in the process of verifying this development.”

Enriched uranium at the 3.67% level is enough for peaceful pursuits but is far below weapons-grade levels of 90%.

The semi-official news agencies ISNA and Fars reported the 4.5% enrichment figure, citing Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran’s nuclear agency.

Mr Kamalvandi separately hinted in a state television interview aired on Monday that the country might consider going to 20% enrichment or higher as a third step, if the material is needed.

That would worry nuclear nonproliferation experts, as 20% is a short technical step away from reaching weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Mr Kamalvandi also suggested using new or more centrifuges, which are limited by the deal.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Monday said Iran appreciated the efforts of some nations to save the deal, but offered a jaded tone on whether Tehran trusted anyone in the negotiations.

“We have no hope nor trust in anyone nor any country but the door of diplomacy is open,” Mr Mousavi said. </s> VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has remained within key limits on its nuclear activities imposed by its 2015 deal with world powers, a U.N. atomic watchdog report said on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: A young boy stands behind an Iranian flag at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, Iran, May, 5, 2010. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo

The report was the third since the January inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the 2015 agreement between six major powers and Iran, reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, “the worst deal ever negotiated” and voiced suspicions Tehran is not fully complying with its terms.

Iran’s stock of low-enriched uranium as of Aug. 21 was 88.4 kg (194.89 pounds), well below a 202.8-kg limit, and the level of enrichment did not exceed a 3.67 percent cap, according to the confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report sent to IAEA member states and seen by Reuters.

Iran’s stock of so-called heavy water, a moderator used in a type of reactor that can produce plutonium, stood at 111 tonnes, below a 130-tonne limit agreed by the parties to the deal.

The U.N. watchdog’s report said Iran restarted production of heavy water on June 17 after a maintenance shut-down of the plant which started on April 27.

Iran has breached its heavy water limit slightly on two occasions before quickly shipping some amounts to Oman to get below the threshold.

Asked about when Iran would go above 130 tonnes from the current stock and at a current rate of production that implies a maximum annual output of 20 tonnes, a senior diplomat said it would take Tehran around one year.

Critics of this arrangement have said that merely transporting the chemical abroad and making the excess stock available for potential buyers in Oman is not sufficient. But the parties to the deal have so far agreed with this solution.

In June, shortly after the IAEA’s last report on Iran said its heavy water stock stood at 128.2 tonnes as of mid-May, Tehran said it would ship 20 tonnes abroad, officials told Reuters at the time. Thursday’s report confirmed this has happened.

Uranium enriched to a grade of under 5 percent of purity is considered suitable for civilian nuclear energy, while weapons-grade uranium requires enrichment of around 90 percent. Certain types of plutonium are a prime ingredient of atomic bombs.

The 2015 accord lifted international sanctions against Iran in return for Tehran limiting its nuclear energy programme to ensure it cannot be put to developing an atomic bomb.

The Trump administration has been pushing the IAEA to check military sites in Iran, not just declared nuclear installations, to verify it is not breaching the deal. But for this to happen, U.N. inspectors must believe such checks are necessary and so far they do not, officials say. </s> Iran Says It Will Exceed Nuclear Deal's Limit On Uranium 'In 10 Days'

Enlarge this image toggle caption Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 11:50 a.m. ET

Within days Iran will exceed the limit on its stockpile of uranium under a 2015 nuclear deal, according to a spokesman for the country's atomic energy agency, who also said Tehran would increase uranium enrichment levels in violation of the agreement, "based on the country's needs."

The remarks come amid increased tension between the U.S. and Iran, particularly after last week's attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman that Washington has blamed on Tehran. Iran has denied any involvement.

Under the multilateral Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that the U.S. withdrew from a year ago, Iran can keep no more than 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of uranium enriched no higher than 3.67% — far below the 90% level considered suitable for building nuclear weapons.

At a news conference at the Arak Nuclear Complex that was carried live Monday on Iranian television, Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that stockpile limit could be exceeded within 10 days.

"We have quadrupled the rate of enrichment and even increased it more recently, so that in 10 days it will bypass the 300 kg limit," Kamalvandi said.

He added that his country needs uranium enriched to 5% for its Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, built in the 1990s with Russian help, and uranium of 20% purity to be used as fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, which the U.S. supplied to Iran in 1967.

Although not weapons-grade, 20% purity is generally considered "highly enriched" uranium, and as The Associated Press notes, "going from 20% to 90% is a relatively quicker process, something that worries nuclear nonproliferation experts."

Even so, Kamalvandi held out the possibility that "there is still time ... if European countries act."

"Iran's reserves are every day increasing at a more rapid rate. And if it is important for them (Europe) to safeguard the accord, they should make their best efforts. ... As soon as they carry out their commitments, things will naturally go back to their original state," he said, according to AP.

That sentiment was echoed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday. "It's a crucial moment, and France can still work with other signatories of the deal and play an historic role to save the deal in this very short time," he was quoted by the Fars News Agency as saying during a meeting with France's new ambassador in Iran.

Reuters reports that Rouhani said the collapse of the nuclear deal would not be in the interests of the region and the world.

In response to Iran's announcement on uranium enrichment levels, National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis said in a statement: "Iran's enrichment plans are only possible because the horrible nuclear deal left the their capabilities intact. President Trump has made it clear that he will never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. The regime's nuclear blackmail must be met with increased international pressure."

Following last week's reported attack on the tankers Front Altair and Kokuka Courageous near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "there's no doubt" that Iran was responsible for disabling the vessels.

"The intelligence community has lots of data, lots of evidence," Pompeo said on Fox News Sunday. "The world will come to see much of it, but the American people should rest assured we have high confidence with respect to who conducted these attacks as well as half a dozen other attacks throughout the world."

On CBS' Face the Nation, Pompeo said the U.S. was "considering a full range of options."

"We are confident that we can take a set of actions that can restore deterrence, which is our mission set," he said.

On Monday, Iran's armed forces chief of staff again denied the country's involvement in the attacks.

"Regarding the new incidents in the Persian Gulf ... if the Islamic Republic of Iran decides to block exports of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, it is militarily strong enough to do that fully and publicly," Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri said, according to Fars News Agency. </s> On Monday, Iran told the world that it had accumulated more low-enriched uranium than it was allowed to have under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal it had signed with the United States and five other countries. The deliberate violation of the provisions of that agreement, Iran has said, was in response to the reimposition of economic and other sanctions by the US after it unilaterally pulled out of the deal last year.

Iran’s latest move has put further strains on an already precarious agreement that seeks to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons in exchange for the easing of economic sanctions. But Iran has kept the room open for negotiations, saying its move was “reversible”.

What is enriched uranium, and how much has Iran accumulated?

Uranium is the most common fuel used in nuclear reactors, and is required for nuclear electricity generation as well as to make nuclear weapons. On the other hand, naturally occurring uranium, which is predominantly composed of a stabler isotope, uranium-238, is not fissionable, meaning its nucleus cannot be split in a way that can sustain a chain reaction. To be used in nuclear reactors, natural uranium has to be ‘enriched’ with uranium-235 that can sustain fission chain reactions. Naturally occurring uranium has less than 1% of the uranium-235 isotope.

Even a small amount of enrichment, in the range of 3% to 5%, called “low enrichment”, is sufficient to run nuclear power reactors which allow only controlled fission reactions. For making nuclear weapons, however, “highly enriched” uranium — with more than 90% uranium-235 — is needed. More enrichment means more uranium-235 nuclei are available to be split, which in turn means greater heat and energy can be generated.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran is required to ensure that, for the next 15 years, its stockpile of uranium is not enriched beyond 3.67%. Further, this stockpile of 3.67% enriched uranium itself is not supposed to exceed 300 kg.

It is this 300-kg limit that Iran has now said it has exceeded. However, it has not specified how much more low-enriched uranium it has created. Iran has also said that its next step would be to enrich uranium beyond the 3.67% limit.

Under what circumstances was the deal with Iran signed?

The deal signed in July 2015 was an attempt by the US and other major world powers to ensure that Iran did not acquire nuclear weapons, which it has been suspected of trying to do for several years now. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is a sort of an international regulatory body on nuclear energy, had in 2003 reported the possibility of Iran secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons at one of its nuclear facilities. That had invited economic sanctions from the US and other countries.

After protracted negotiations that lasted over a decade, Iran and the US reached an agreement to restrict Tehran’s nuclear programme to only civilian uses in exchange for lifting of the sanctions. Apart from the US, the other parties to the deal are Russia, the UK, France, China and Germany, together called the P5+1.

The complex agreement specifies a large number of steps that Iran needs to take and requirements that it needs to meet to keep the economically crippling sanctions away. Most of the provisions of this agreement are supposed to run for the next 15 years, but some, like international monitoring of Iran’s uranium mines and mills, or of its nuclear power production facilities, are meant to be in force for the next 25 years.

In return, the US agreed to cease its sanctions against Iran’s oil and banking sector, allowing their re-entry into the international systems. It also allowed the sale of commercial passenger aircraft to Iran, which had been put on hold. The UN and European Union also eased their own sanctions on Iran.

So, why did the US withdraw from the deal and reimpose sanctions?

The agreement was negotiated when the Barack Obama administration was in power in the US. Current President Donald Trump has never shied away from expressing his discomfort with the deal, which he claims, was detrimental to the American interests. The Trump administration has advocated tougher provisions in the agreement, particularly with regard to the expiry dates on restrictions related to uranium enrichment. It does not want these restrictions to have any end-date.

After its offer to renegotiate the deal did not find acceptance from Iran, the US withdrew from the deal last year. It also slapped fresh sanctions on Iran. The five other countries, however, continued to be parties to the deal, thereby weakening the impact of US sanctions. However, these sanctions were still damaging enough for Iran to finally respond after a year.

What happens to the deal now?

Iran’s defiance of the provisions of the agreement is being seen as largely a bargaining ploy in its ongoing confrontation with the US, especially since it has explicitly said that it was open to reversing its decision if the sanctions against it were lifted. It is being seen as an attempt to put pressure on the other parties to convince the US of the need to keep the agreement, however fragile, in place. The Trump administration, however, has maintained a hardened stance towards Iran, and, in the absence of a diplomatic breakthrough, this could result in the unravelling of the deal. </s> VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has stayed within the limits of a nuclear deal it reached with world powers last year on its stockpiles of uranium and heavy water, two chemicals that could be used for atomic bombs, the U.N. nuclear agency said on Friday.

In exchange for sanctions relief, Iran last July committed to keeping its reserve of low-enriched uranium below 300 kg (662 pounds) and its stock of heavy water, a non-radioactive product, at less than 130 metric tonnes.

"Throughout the reporting period, Iran had no more than 130 metric tonnes of heavy water ... Iran's total (low) enriched uranium stockpile did not exceed 300 kg," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a quarterly report on Iran.

The IAEA is in charge of verifying Iran's compliance with the deal it reached with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

"There shouldn't be any surprises for anyone. Iran continues to honor its commitments," a senior diplomat said. "At this point in time it's clearly below the 300 kg limit. It's not close to making us nervous."

In its last Iran report in February, the IAEA said Iran had briefly overstepped the limit for its heavy-water stock, but then came quickly back within the bounds of the deal. The breach did not worry diplomats.
Iran announces that it has enriched more than 300 kilograms (660 lb) of uranium to 3.67%, contrary to previous agreement. This is still highly insufficient to produce one nuclear weapon.