The spokesman for the European External Action Service, Peter Stano, said, on Monday 4 January, that the 20% uranium enrichment, as announced by Iran, if effective, would constitute a “considerable departure from its commitments” under the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He added that this would have “serious nuclear non-proliferation implications”.
For Mr Stano, any measure that would undermine the preservation of the Iranian nuclear deal should be avoided. “The deal will be kept alive as long as all the participants deliver on their obligations”, he added.
The spokesman explained that the EU was waiting for confirmation of this enrichment by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before reacting. This confirmation arrived in the afternoon, but at the time of our closure, the EU had not yet made any further statements.
For his part, the Russian representative to the IAEA did not want to dramatise the announcement. “We aren’t enthusiastic about further deviation of Tehran from its commitments under JCPOA. But there is nothing to overdramatise. The nuclear programme remains fully transparent and verifiable. We should focus on means to restore comprehensive implementation of the nuclear deal”, Mikhail Ulyanov stressed on Twitter.
The IAEA has confirmed that Iran began, on 4 January, “feeding uranium already enriched up to 4.1% U-235 into six centrifuge cascades at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant for further enrichment up to 20%”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)