Iran threatens to break uranium limit designed to prevent development of nuclear bombs ‘in 10 days’ amid warnings of war

Iranian officials warned on Monday that they would expand their civilian nuclear programme significantly in the coming days if world powers were unable to hold up their end of a nuclear deal established by the US and other states but abandoned by Washington last year.

At a news conference the spokesperson for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said the country would surpass reactor-grade enriched uranium limits set by the nuclear deal in 10 days; was considering whether to resume enrichment of uranium to medical-grade levels of 20 per cent purity; and may restart a heavy water reactor near the city of Arak that had been filled with concrete under the provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran’s uranium enrichment programme has alarmed international powers since it was disclosed more then 17 years ago. Iran claims its nuclear programme is meant only for civilian purposes, but independent experts suggest that Iran was actively pursuing a clandestine weapons programme until 2003, and was probably maintaining the option to retrofit its programme for military purposes afterward.

Uranium enriched up to 5 per cent is used to make reactor fuel for power plants, including the Russian-built plant in Iran’s southern port city of Bushehr, and up to 20 per cent can be used for scientific and medical research and treatments. Purified to much higher levels, enriched uranium can be used as fissile material for nuclear weapons.

“There are two scenarios; according to one scenario, we will go from 3.67 per cent to up to 5 per cent for the Bushehr power plant,” Behrouz Kamalvand, spokesperson for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation told reporters. “Another scenario is enriching for Tehran research reactor at 20 per cent, which in both cases will mean going beyond the 3.67 per cent. If there emerge other necessities, this can even be increased.”

Iran had warned for days that it was planning to make fresh announcements regarding its adherence to the nuclear deal on Monday. It remained unclear how much of Iran’s announcements were bluster and spin aimed at putting pressure on nuclear deal participants including the EU, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. Iran may also have been trying to up its leverage with the Trump administration, which has demanded fresh talks to renegotiate a “better deal”.

The imminent surpassing of Iran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile limits is a direct result of the Trump administration removing sanctions waivers on a deal that allowed Iran to sell its excess stockpiles to Russia in exchange for yellow cake uranium, a precursor in the production of nuclear fuel. Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani signalled in a meeting with France’s new envoy to Tehran on Monday that diplomacy remained on the table.

“The current condition is a sensitive one and France still has a chance to play its historical role to save the nuclear deal along with the other signatories in the remaining short time,” he was quoted as saying. “Because the collapse of JCPOA is not in the interest of Iran, France, the region or the world.”

The announcements, made by Mr Kamalvand during a televised news conference held at the Arak heavy water facility, came after suspected attacks on oil tankers in the region last week, which the US has blamed on Iran.

The UK government also later said Iran’s military was “almost certainly” responsible for the apparent attacks.

The Iranian mission to the United Nations dismissed claims that it was behind the attacks.

It previously said in a statement: “Iran categorically rejects the US unfounded claim with regard to 13 June oil tanker incidents, and condemns it in the strongest possible terms.”

Tensions between Tehran and Washington are running high a year after Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the 2015 nuclear deal partly brokered by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Mr Kamalvand acknowledged that Iran has already quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium.

When uranium is mined, it typically has about 140 atoms of an unwanted isotope, U-238, for every atom of U-235.

Refining it to a purity of 3.67 per cent means removing 114 unwanted atoms of U-238 for every atom of U-235.

Mr Kamalvand noted that boosting its purity to 20 per cent means removing 22 more unwanted isotopes per atom of U-235, while going from there to 90 per cent purity means removing just four more isotopes per atom of U-235.

Ninety per cent purity is considered weapons-grade material, while 70 per cent purity could be used to build a so-called dirty bomb.

Going from 20 per cent to 90 per cent enrichment is relatively simple once a country has mastered the enrichment process, something that worries nuclear non-proliferation experts.