IRAN’S nuclear programme has not expanded beyond the limits of the 2015 agreement with major powers, in spite of Tehran’s announcement that it will gradually withdraw from the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday in Vienna.

In early May, the Islamic Republic announced that it would no longer respect the thresholds for two substances that can be used for civilian purposes as well as for making nuclear warheads.

According to the report, Iran’s enriched uranium and heavy water stocks are still below the amounts that were agreed with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russian and China.

Iranian President Hassan Rowhani announced his country’s gradual exit from the deal on May 8, in response to Washington’s withdrawal from the pact, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump one year earlier.

Rowhani has given major powers until early July to lift oil and banking sanctions that the U.S. revived as it pulled out of the nuclear deal, which is meant to prevent an Iranian nuclear arsenal.

If the punitive measures stay in place, Tehran is threatening to enrich uranium to higher purity grades.

The enrichment would allow Iran to process it more quickly into weapons-grade material than the low-enriched uranium that it currently produces.

The IAEA reported that enrichment grades are still in line with the limit set by the nuclear deal.

BE

– May 31, 2019 @ 17:20 GMT |