Sunday, 26 July 2020 _The Islamic Republic will continue its peaceful nuclear program according to the terms of agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since Tehran sees the peaceful use of nuclear energy as an inalienable right of the nation, says a senior Foreign Ministry official.
“We will go on with our peaceful nuclear program according to the rules and regulations set and agreed upon with the IAEA,” Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi wrote in an article for a Polish periodical.Iran, he said, has taken steps to reduce its commitments under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but is ready “to restore all those commitments anytime that our interests are met within the framework of the JCPOA.”
President Donald Trump of the United States, a hawkish critic of the historic deal, unilaterally withdrew Washington from the agreement in May 2018, and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism.
In response, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments four times in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA, stressing, however, that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from the US sanctions.
As a first step, Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA.
In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA limit of 3.76 percent.
In the third phase, after the Europeans failed to meet a 60-day deadline to meet Iran’s demands and fulfill their commitments under the deal, Iran started up advanced centrifuges to boost the country's stockpile of enriched uranium and activated 20 IR-4 and 20 IR-6 centrifuges for research and development purposes.
In November last year, Iran began injecting gas into centrifuges at the Fordow plant as part of its fourth step away from the JCPOA under the supervision of the IAEA.