Iran began preparations to increase its uranium enrichment capacity on Tuesday in the strongest response yet to Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers.
Ali Akbar Salehi, one of Iran’s vice-presidents and head of the country’s atomic organisation, told reporters that “the first step was taken and we have started ground operations today”. Iran’s state television would broadcast pictures from Natanz, Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, on Wednesday “with regard to production of new centrifuges”, he added.
Mr Salehi said the measures would not violate the 2015 nuclear deal, adding that Iran would only ramp up uranium enrichment if the accord collapsed. But his statement will increase pressure on European governments battling to save the accord. A day earlier, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, ordered officials to speed up preparations to deploy equipment for advanced nuclear enrichment.