ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Tehran has increased its stockpile of enriched uranium, a quarterly report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned Friday, as Iran continues to roll back its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran has been squeezed by sanctions and increasingly isolated from the international community since the United States withdrew from the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018. In an effort to pressure the remaining European signatories of the deal to help it weather Washington’s maximum pressure campaign, Tehran has been incrementally scrapping its commitments to the deal, which was designed to limit its nuclear ambitions. In July, the IAEA announced Iran had stockpiled 213.5 kg of enriched uranium – breaching the 202.8-kg limit imposed by the deal. The uranium was being enriched at 4.5 percent – beyond the 3.67 percent cap. Friday’s IAEA quarterly report says the stockpile has now increased to 241.6 kg. Although its enrichment is a long way off the level needed to create a nuclear bomb, the move brings Tehran significantly closer to having the capacity to rapidly develop a device. “Iran is progressively backing out of the deal in retaliation for Washington’s withdrawal from the accord and renewal of sanctions that have hit Iranian oil sales,” the IAEA report states. “Iran has accumulated 241.6 kg of enriched uranium and is enriching at around the same level as before, up to 4.5 percent,” Reuters reports. The foreign ministers of Britain, France, and Germany met with EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini for talks on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Helsinki on Friday in a bid to bolster efforts to rescue the nuclear deal. US sanctions have primarily targeted Iran’s oil industry – its main source of revenue. US President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order imposing new sanctions on Iran, aimed particularly at Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, his office, and those closely affiliated with him. US-imposed sanctions have dealt a massive economic blow to Iran’s economy. The national currency has lost around 70 percent of its value, and rates of unemployment and inflation are sky-high. The measures come during an uptick in tensions in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Iran shot down a naval reconnaissance drone in the Gulf of Oman on June 20, while several oil tankers have been attacked in the same area. The US has repeatedly accused Iran of launching the tanker attacks – accusations Iran has vehemently denied.
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