As President Donald Trump considers whether or not to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal ahead of a May deadline, leaders in Tehran are threatening to restart the country’s nuclear enrichment program in just a matter of days, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday.
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi has disclosed that Tehran has retained the ability to restart in just four days the full-scale enrichment of uranium, which is the main component in a nuclear weapon that was supposed to be removed from Iran as part of the nuclear deal.
"If senior Islamic Republic officials issue an order to resume the 20-percent enrichment, we can do it in [the] Fordo [nuclear facility] within four days," Salehi was quoted as saying in Iran's state-controlled FARS News Agency.
The 20 percent figure is significant, because it is more than enough to quickly reach the threshold for a nuclear weapon.
Salehi added that "Iran can even show more extensive progress in other parts of its nuclear activities to go beyond the previous levels."
His comments are interpreted as a warning to the world powers, which Iran has accused of violating the agreement by not implementing economic concessions that would give Tehran access to billions in cash resources and business deals, according to the Free Beacon.
The Trump administration is pressing European allies to agree to strengthen the deal with Iran that would constrain Tehran's ongoing nuclear research, as well as its ballistic missile program, which has continued to progress unhindered.
Iran's latest threats expose crucial flaws in the Iran deal that the Trump administration is seeking to address, nuclear expert Mark Dubowitz told the Free Beacon.
Their "threats confirm that the Iranian regime never gave up on its atomic weapon ambitions," he said.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared on Monday that Iran's nuclear industry is advancing at a faster pace, according to Al Jazeera.
He made the comments at a "National Atomic Energy Day" event, where he unveiled the latest in nuclear technological developments, including developing centrifuges, separation and nuclear medicine.
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