The United Nations' atomic watchdog confirmed Monday that Iran is preparing to use more advanced centrifuges, another breach of limits set in the country's unraveling nuclear deal with major powers.
Iran had already announced the step, its latest violation of the 2015 agreement as it tries to pressure European signatories to find a way to maintain oil shipments and ease the toll of U.S. sanctions on the Iranian economy.,
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported its inspectors verified the installation of new centrifuges. The agency said all had been "prepared for testing" but none yet tested at the time of the Sept. 7-8 inspection.
Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Gharib Abadi, arrives for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (AP PhotoRonald Zak)
The nuclear deal was meant to keep Tehran from building atomic weapons in exchange for economic incentives. Its collapse started with the United States unilaterally withdrawing from the deal last year and imposing increased sanctions.
The other signatories — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, as well as the European Union — have been struggling to salvage the agreement and find a way to meet Tehran's demands.
To put pressure on them, Iran has already pushed past limits in the deal, known as JCPOA for short, on nuclear enrichment purity and stockpiles of enriched uranium.
Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Gharib Abadi, right, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (AP PhotoRonald Zak)
A centrifuge is a device that enriches uranium by rapidly spinning uranium hexafluoride gas. The IAEA said the ones its inspectors saw included 30 advanced IR-6 and three IR-6s models, as well as multiple IR-4 and IR-5 models.
Under the atomic accord, Iran has been limited to operating 5,060 older model IR-1 centrifuges.
Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, downplayed the development, saying after Iran revealed its step about centrifuges that the move "shouldn't be overdramatized."
In this photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the head of Iran's nuclear program, Ali Akbar Salehi, left, shakes hands with acting chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Cornel Feruta, during their meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019. After the meeting Salehi said the European Union has failed to honor its commitments under Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers, following the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 accord over a year ago. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP)
"Yes, it's another deviation from JCPOA, but new activities will remain verifiable by IAEA and reversible," he said in a tweet. "No proliferation threat, just a strong signal that balance within the JCPOA must be restored."
IAEA Acting Director General Cornel Feruta, who returned from Tehran Sunday night, told the agency's board in Vienna on Monday that inspectors on the ground continue "to verify and monitor Iran's nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA."
He said he emphasized to Iranian authorities "the importance of full and timely cooperation by Iran."
That mirrored a line in a recent IAEA report on Iran that suggested Tehran wasn't as forthcoming with answering questions as the agency hoped.
"I also stressed the need for Iran to respond promptly to agency questions related to the completeness of Iran's safeguards declarations," Feruta said.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning.
Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger, who is chair of the EU’s military committee, said that it would be crucial for the bloc to “conserve resources” over the long haul because the threat posed by Houthi attacks “will not disappear” due to its connection to the Israel-Hamas war.
“The task given to the military is simply to protect merchant ships and to show the public that the European Union is not willing to accept a terrorist organization will interrupt the freedom of movement at sea,” Brieger said.
Brieger said that he’s asking EU members to provide the necessary resources to the EU mission dubbed Aspides — Greek for “shields.”
He said that it’s the first time that the EU has launched a naval operation in a hostile environment that's twice the size of the 27-nation bloc, calling it a “litmus test” that the bloc will pass successfully.
The commander of an EU naval mission in the Red Sea, Greek Rear Adm. Vasilios Gryparis, wants to significantly increase its size to better defend against possible attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. Nineteen of the 27 EU nations are involved in the mission, but only four frigates are patrolling an area twice the size of the bloc.
The EU mission was established in February to defend civilian vessels and doesn't take part in any military strikes. The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control much of Yemen’s north and west, launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November. They have also fired missiles toward Israel, although those have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
The attacks have hit maritime trade to Egypt and Europe, with only around half the usual number of ships moving through the area. It’s added up to two weeks of transit time for vessels that want to avoid the Suez Canal, hiking transport costs and shipping insurance.
The rebels have described their campaign as an effort to pressure Israel to end the wear. The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war.
Their campaign has continued despite more than two months of U.S.-led retaliatory airstrikes.
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
General Robert Brieger, chairman of the EU's Military Committee talks to the media during a press conference after a meeting with the Cyprus national guard chief Georgios Tsitsikostas at the Defense Ministry in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The European Union's top military official says a frigate that's part of an EU military mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping has destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels. Brieger said the downing of the drone took place Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
