This archive report was first published on 8 July 2019.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has ordered the country to exceed the uranium enrichment cap set by the 2015 nuclear deal, a move that could have significant implications for global security.
According to Iranian officials, the country will breach the 3.67 percent enrichment limit within hours, despite opposition from countries backing the deal.
The move is seen as a response to a failure by remaining parties to help Tehran work around sanctions imposed by the US, which withdrew from the agreement in 2018.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that Iran will face 'further isolation and sanctions' if it continues to breach the deal, while President Donald Trump has warned that Iran 'better be careful'.
The 2015 deal was reached between Iran and six world powers, including the US, and saw Tehran agree to drastically scale down its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
However, the US began reimposing sanctions in August 2018, targeting crucial sectors including oil exports and the banking system, fuelling a deep recession in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Tehran could further scale back its commitments to the deal, but 'all such steps are reversible' if European partners deliver on their part.
The move to start enriching uranium above the agreed maximum purification level comes despite opposition from countries backing the nuclear deal, including Britain and Germany.
Britain has said that Iran has 'broken the terms' of the accord, and has urged Tehran to 'stop and reverse all activities inconsistent with its commitments'.
Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation is fully ready to enrich uranium 'at any amount and at any level' if ordered to do so, its spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi has said.
A top advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has hinted that the country could reach five percent enrichment, a level that is far below the more than 90 percent required for a nuclear warhead.
Iran says that it is not violating the deal, citing terms of the agreement allowing one side to temporarily abandon some of its commitments if it deems the other side is not respecting its part of the accord.
