The standoff hardens. Iran said on Wednesday April 14 that its decision to enrich uranium to 60% was its ” reply “ at “Nuclear terrorism” Israel, after the explosion on Sunday at its Natanz enrichment plant in the center of the country.
Tehran announced Tuesday evening that it would now raise the maximum threshold for its uranium enrichment activities in isotope 235 from 20% to 60%; which would bring the Islamic Republic closer to the 90% needed for military use.
While negotiations are taking place in the Austrian capital to save the Iranian nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 in Vienna, President Hassan Rouhani nevertheless reaffirmed on Wednesday that his country’s atomic ambitions were exclusively “Peaceful”.
Germany, France and Great Britain, European states party to the Vienna Agreement, nonetheless described Tehran’s announcement as “Serious development […] contrary to the constructive spirit ” discussions, recalling that “The production of highly enriched uranium is an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon”.
“Dangerous spiral”
To which Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appeared to respond on Twitter as the only way out of the “Dangerous spiral” triggered by the explosion of Natanz was to put an end to the “Economic terrorism” of former US President Donald Trump. By pulling his country out of the Vienna Accord, it reactivated punitive sanctions against Iran, which plunged the country into a serious recession.
His successor, Joe Biden, has no“Other alternative” than to return to respect for the Vienna agreement or to continue on the same line as Mr. Trump, writes Mr. Zarif, for whom only ” not much time “. Production of 60% enriched uranium set to begin, Tehran says ” next week “ (i.e. from Saturday in Iran) at the uranium enrichment plant at the Natanz nuclear complex, damaged by Sunday’s explosion.
The Iranian authorities, who first reported a ” accident “ having caused a ” power outage “, provided few details of the damage, but an unknown number of centrifuges (used to enrich uranium gas) appear to have been damaged. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the Iranian plant on Wednesday, announced the UN nuclear gendarme.
Tehran, on the other hand, quickly accused Israel, the Islamic Republic’s sworn enemy, of being behind the explosion. According to New York Times, the Israelis would be involved in the operation, carried out using a bomb introduced “Clandestinely” inside the factory.
“Response to your malicious intent”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a staunch opponent of the Vienna Accord. He assures us that the Islamic Republic – whose Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calls Israel “Malignant cancerous tumor” to be in front “Eradicated” – represents an existential threat to his country. He accuses Iran of seeking to acquire the atomic bomb in secret, which Tehran has always denied, and that the Vienna agreement endangers its country. Israel is said to be the only state with the atomic bomb in the Near and Middle East.
The decision to enrich to 60% is “The answer to your malice”, declared Mr. Rohani in the Council of Ministers. “What you have done is called nuclear terrorism, what we are doing is legal”, he said in an allusion to Israel. “For every crime, we will cut off your hands”, warned Mr. Rouhani, while the escalation between the Islamic Republic and Israel worries the international community.
Since the beginning of March, several attacks on Iranian ships have been attributed to Israel, while several Israeli boats appear to have been targeted by Iranian attacks. On Tuesday, an Israeli channel reported that an Israeli boat had been the target of an attack near the Emirati coast, off Iran. Berlin, London and Paris on Wednesday warned against any “Escalation by any actor”.
