Iran will partially withdraw from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal signed with six other nations, President Hassan Rouhani announced on Wednesday, a move that comes a year after the US unilaterally withdrew from the pact.
In atelevised speech, Rouhani said that Tehran would reduce its”commitments” to the deal, but would not fully withdraw and thatsignatories of the deal — France, the UK, Germany, Russia and China — hadbeen informed in advance of the move.
Accordingto the President, Iran would keep enriched uranium stocks in the country andnot sell them abroad. He also threatened to resume production of higherenriched uranium in 60 days.
Rouhaniaccused “hardliners” in the US of working to undermine the agreement,saying it was “in the interests of the region and the world, but not theenemies of Iran, therefore they spared no effort since 2015 to undermine (thedeal)”, CNN reported.
Theaccord is aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions in return for sanctionsrelief, but Tehran-Washington tensions have risen since the US withdrew fromthe deal. US President Donald Trump later reimposed sanctions on Tehran,hitting its economy.
“TheIslamic Republic of Iran declares that at the current stage, it does not anymore see itself committed to respecting the limitations on keeping enricheduranium and heavy water reserves,” Iran’s Supreme National SecurityCouncil (SNSC) said in a statement.
TheSNSC said other partners would have 60 days to lift pressure from Iran causedby the US sanctions, otherwise the country “will cease implementation ofrestrictions on uranium enrichment levels”.
Theannouncement comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unscheduledvisit to Iraq, and a US aircraft carrier was deployed to the Gulf region.