BICOM

The French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Iran yesterday that its decision to increase Uranium enrichment and open a new nuclear enrichment facility is flirting with “red lines”.

On Monday Iranian leaders said they would increase uranium enrichment and open a new nuclear facility. The announcement was viewed by many Western analysts as a response to the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

“This initiative is quite unwelcome, it shows a form of irritation and it is always dangerous to flirt with red lines,” Drian said. The new facility is understood to be within the limits of the JCPOA nuclear deal.

Maja Kocijancic, an EU spokesperson, said on first assessment Iran’s announced steps on enrichment “per se are not a violation of the JCPOA”. However, she warned: “At this particularly critical juncture, they will not contribute to building confidence in the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme.”

“We expect Iran to stick to all its JCPOA commitments, to be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) … the only body in charge of the monitoring and verification of the implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA,” she added.

Last night Iranian state television broadcast an interview with Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s nuclear chief, showing the new Natanz uranium enrichment centre. Salehi said construction began before the nuclear deal was signed (in 2015) and that he hopes the first centrifuges, known as old-generation centrifuges, will roll out in a month’s time. The new site includes underground facilities protected by 25 feet of concrete.

Salehi stressed that his announcement was just the start of the production process and did not mean Iran is about to start assembling more advanced centrifuges, which it is allowed to do under strict limits within the first decade of the JCPOA deal.

The UK, France and Germany have been leading efforts to keep the deal alive by protecting the economic benefits and trade deals Iran expected when international sanctions were lifted in return for Iran halting its nuclear programme..

The Iranian ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi said yesterday that Iran is preparing “for a possible scenario if in an unfortunate situation the (nuclear deal) fails then Iran can restart its activities without any limits”.