IAEA confirms Iran's enriched uranium stockpile exceeds nuclear deal limit

Iran has followed through on its threat to breach a central limit of its nuclear deal with major powers, accumulating more enriched uranium than allowed under the accord, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday.
The statement confirmed comments from Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that Tehran had exceeded the stockpile limit of enriched uranium.

But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi said the uranium limit breach was “reversible” and urged Europe to accelerate efforts to salvage the nuclear deal.

"We can confirm that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has informed the Board of Governors that the Agency verified on 1 July that Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile exceeded (the deal's limit)," an IAEA spokesman said.
An IAEA report sent to member states and obtained by Reuters put Iran's stock at 205 kg, above the deal's limit of 202.8 kg.

Enriching uranium to a low level of 3.6 percent fissile material is the first step in a process that could eventually allow Iran to amass enough highly-enriched uranium to build a nuclear warhead.

Last Wednesday, the IAEA verified that Iran had roughly 200 kg of low-enriched uranium.

Zarif said Monday that Iran had exceeded the relevant limit of 300 kg of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) - a quantity that corresponds to 202.8 kg of low-enriched uranium. 

After talks on Friday in Vienna, Iran said European countries had offered too little in the way of trade assistance to persuade it to back off from its plan to breach the limit, a riposte to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision last year to quit the deal and reimpose economic sanctions.

Mousavi urged them on Monday to step up their efforts. "Time is running out for them to save the deal," state TV quoted him Mousavi as saying.

The deal between Iran and six world powers lifted most international sanctions against Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear work aimed at extending the time Iran would need to produce a nuclear bomb, if it chose to, from roughly 2-3 months to a year.

Zarif’s confirmation of the breach came just hours after he warned that Iran would never succumb to US pressure, adding that if Washington wanted talks with Tehran it should show respect.
“Iran will never yield to pressure from the United States ... America should try to respect Iran ... if they want to talk to Iran, they should show respect,” Zarif said in a speech broadcast live on state TV.

Tension between Tehran and Washington have risen sharply in recent weeks, a year after Washington exited the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international financial sanctions.
Trump has called for talks with Iran’s clerical rulers with “no preconditions.” Tehran has ruled this out, saying Trump should return to the deal if he wants to negotiate with Iran.