Iran Crosses Enriched Uranium Limit

Iran said on Monday that it has surpassed the limit of its enriched uranium stockpile set in the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
“I have learned that Iran has passed the 300-kg limit of its enriched uranium, according to plan we had announced earlier,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in Tehran, IRNA reported. 
The top diplomat pointed to Friday’s meeting of the remaining parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and said, “As we announced after the meeting, measures adopted by Europeans have not been satisfactory and the Islamic Republic will go ahead with its plan [to reduce its commitments under the deal].” 
Zarif said the first phase of the plan regarding the stockpiles of enriched uranium and heavy water has been carried out, and the next stage, namely the plan to go beyond 3.67% fissile purity, will be implemented. 
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Iran’s steps to reduce its commitments to the nuclear deal are “reversible”, if Iran’s demands are fulfilled. 
Fars News Agency quoted a source as saying that the International Atomic Energy Agency measured the stockpile on Monday.

IAEA Inspections Underway  

The UN nuclear watchdog said later in the day that its inspectors are verifying whether Iran has accumulated more enriched uranium than allowed under its deal with major powers.
“We are aware of the media reports related to Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium [LEU],” an IAEA spokesman said. 
“Our inspectors are on the ground and they will report to headquarters as soon as the LEU stockpile has been verified.”
After the Friday talks in Vienna, Austria, Iran said European countries had offered too little in the way of trade assistance to persuade it to back off from its plan to exceed the limits, a riposte to US President Donald Trump’s decision last year to quit the deal and reimpose economic sanctions.
The deal between Iran and six world powers lifted most international sanctions against Iran in return for restrictions on its civilian nuclear program. 
In May, Washington piled pressure on Tehran by ordering all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil and tensions have been growing in the Persian Gulf ever since.
On May 8, Iran announced it had decided to reduce some of its nuclear commitments due to the JCPOA participants’ failure to ensure its interests and said it would take more steps to scale back its obligations if they failed to provide Iran with adequate compensation to shield it from US sanctions by July 8.  
Washington has dispatched extra forces to the Middle East and US fighter jets came within minutes of conducting airstrikes on Iran last month after Tehran downed an unmanned American drone.
Trump has called for negotiations with Iran with “no preconditions”, but Tehran has ruled out talks until the United States returns to the nuclear pact and lifts its sanctions.