The European Commission said on Tuesday it regretted that Iran has resumed 20% uranium enrichment at an underground nuclear facility, claiming that Iran is breaching a 2015 nuclear pact, but believed that the accord was worth saving, Reuters reported.
“We are highly concerned by the measures taken by Iran. This action is in breach of Iran’s nuclear commitments and will have serious implications,” a spokesman for the Commission claimed.
“It is regrettable but it is also highly important and ... that we maintain the agreement,” he added.
As announced on Monday, Iran has started the process of producing uranium with 20% enrichment at the Fordow facility.
Ali Rabiei pointed to Iran’s counteractive plan to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity, saying that the gas injection process into centrifuges started “hours ago” following President Hassan Rouhani’s recent order on the implementation of the plan.
The Iranian parliament approved a bill in December aimed at the lifting of sanctions after the failure of JCPOA’s European parties to fulfil commitments and in wake of the assassination of an Iranian scientist.
Earlier, the European Union (EU) has reacted to Iran's decision to increase its uranium enrichment level, which was recently reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
According to Sputnik, a European Union spokesperson claimed that Iran's move is a significant deviation from the nuclear deal.
This is while Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna noted that Iran’s nuclear program is fully transparent and verifiable.
In a tweet on Monday, Mikhail Ulyanov wrote, “We aren’t enthusiastic about further deviation of Tehran from its commitments under #JCPOA. But there is nothing to overdramatise. The nuclear programme remains fully transparent and verifiable. We should focus on means to restore comprehensive implementation of the nuclear deal.”
ZZ/FNA13991016000650/PR