Spokesman: Iran to Start Enrichment, Install New Centrifuge Machines after Withdrawal from N. Deal

Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi announced that his country plans to resume enrichment of uranium in Fordo and install new centrifuge machines in Natanz (both in Central Iran) if the 2015 nuclear deal fully collapses.

News ID: 70709

Date: 13 June 2018 - 17:12

TEHRAN (Defapress)"If we decide to withdraw from the nuclear deal, we will install new machines in Natanz and develop the site and we have many other plans," Kamalvandi said on Wednesday.

Asked about resumption of activities at Fordo, he said, "Restoration of Fordo means enrichment and at present, enrichment is not done there and enrichment will resume in Fordo after withdrawal from the nuclear deal upon the decision of high-ranking Iranian officials."

Kamalvandi said that for the time being, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has ordered the relevant authorities to take steps within the framework of the nuclear deal and when he orders, Iran will announce its plans to restore Fordo outside the nuclear deal.

In relevant remarks last Sunday, Kamalvandi underlined the country's capability to enhance uranium enrichment output to 190,000 SWUs (Separative Working Units) within one year.

"190,000 SWUs can supply our minimum needs for industrial enrichment and can meet the needs of one power plant and our research reactors," Kamalvandi told reporters in Tehran.

"We have the needed potential to boost enrichment to the needed capacity in less than one year. Meantime, we act based on the general orders of the Islamic Republic officials and for now, Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) thinks that we should act within the framework of the nuclear deal and if we decide to withdraw from the nuclear deal, then we will declare the real capacities of the country," he added.

Asked about the activities at Fordo nuclear site in Central Iran, Kamlavandi said that Fordo will remain in its current conditions as long as the nuclear deal remains in place, but if Iran decides to quit the deal, then it will have certain plans for Fordo.

AEOI Head Ali Akbar Salehi announced last week that the Organization would resume manufacturing new centrifuges in Natanz (in Central Iran) on June 6 within the framework of the nuclear deal in preparation for enhancing enrichment if the nuclear deal fails.

"We cannot abide by the JCPOA and at the same time bear the brunt of US sanctions,” Salehi said while dismissing any possibility of accepting a "distorted" form of JCPOA imposed by other countries on Iran.

Salehi's remarks came in a press conference just hours after the remarks made by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Khamenei said last week  that “the West's dream regarding the JCPOA will not come true, and the Iranian nation and government will not tolerate being under sanctions, while limited in the nuclear field".

The Supreme Leader then called on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to make the necessary arrangements to reach production of 190,000 SWU in the framework provided by the JCPOA.

“Yesterday, the Supreme Leader issued a decree ordering the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to carry out some activities and speed up some measures which are within the framework of the JCPOA and not outside of the agreement,” Salehi added.

Iran's nuclear chief reiterated that AEOI's nuclear activities are peaceful and based on Supreme Leader’s Fatwa (religious decree) according to which manufacturing and restoring nuclear weapons is "haram (strongly forbidden)" for "our country and we always consider ourselves abiding by this principle and we will never violate it".

Salehi underlined Iran has always been abiding by the IAEA safeguards agreements even before the JCPOA was put into effect.

"After signing the JCPOA, Iran even agreed to sign the Additional Protocol and observe the limitations stipulated in the nuclear agreement," he added.

The AEOI chief said that the principle of abiding by our commitments, as already highlighted by our Supreme Leader, has always been of great importance for us at the AEOI.

He underscored that generating electricity from nuclear power and providing fuel for nuclear plants are the two main objectives of the AEOI, adding that industrializing the country's nuclear activities is also of significance to the Atomic Energy Organization.

“Nuclear technology is a dual-use technology. Wherever developed, to the public opinion, it can be used for both peaceful and non-peaceful purposes. We are after a peaceful use of this technology, but unfortunately the West is turning it into a point of weakness for us. This technology can be used in areas of industry, agriculture, and medicine,” Salehi added.

SWU is the standard measure of the effort required to separate isotopes of uranium during an enrichment process. 1SWU is equivalent to 1 kilogram of separative work.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that the US would no longer remain part of the JCPOA and promised to re-impose the highest level of economic sanctions against Iran in response to Tehran's development of its nuclear program.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later threatened Iran with the “strongest sanctions in history” if it did not comply with a list of steep demands, including ending uranium enrichment.

Iran has said it will remain committed to the deal for the time being, pending negotiations with other signatories to the JCPOA to see if Iran’s interests would still be protected under an accord without the US.

Tehran’s other partners in the deal – Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China – have all opposed Washington’s unilateral withdrawal and said they would still live up to their commitments as part of the deal.

Last week, Ayatollah Khamenei once again reiterated that Tehran would never take part in any negotiations over its missile and regional power, and warned that Europeans should comply with his earlier stated conditions or Iran would discard the nuclear deal.

Addressing thousands of Iranian people and officials at a ceremony at the Mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, in Southern Tehran on Monday, the Iranian Leader said the EU should avoid miscalculations that Iran would continue fulfilling its undertakings under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action if the European states do not stand against the US sanctions in practice.

"The words uttered by some European states indicate that they expect the Iranian nation to both agree to comply with the nuclear deal undertakings and live under sanction. I tell the European states that have undigested thoughts in their minds that this dream of yours will not come true," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

"The Iranian nation will not tolerate to be under both sanctions and nuclear restrictions," he reiterated.

Ayatollah Khamenei further dismissed the US-led moves to cause misperception among Iranians that discarding the nuclear deal would end in war, saying some wrongly mention that Iran's opposition to continued compliance with "an impaired version of the JCPOA would result in war, but this is a lie," and a part of the enemies' psychological war against Iran.

He said Tehran would never agree to negotiate over its power components, specially its missile and regional power, and warned that Iran has developed such a robust missile power that it would retaliate any enemy strike with ten-fold missile attacks.

The Leader further warned the EU to avoid playing with Iran over the nuclear deal, and ordered the country's nuclear officials to take the needed measures to be completely prepared for any decision by the Islamic Republic.

"The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is duty-bound to prepare the ground for achieving 190 thousand of SWUs, but within the framework of the JCPOA for the time being," he said in warning remarks, implying that if the EU proves disloyalty to its undertakings Tehran will resume nuclear fuel operations to maximum levels that it needs to fuel its power plants.

"The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran should also take the introductory measures for the execution of the President's order from tomorrow," the Iranian Leader added.

His remarks came as Iran and the EU are in talks on how to preserve the nuclear deal after the US discarded the agreement in a blatant violation of its endorsed undertakings and despite international warnings and as time is clicking for the Europeans to declare their final decision on how they intend to ensure Iran of their compliance with their duties under the nuclear deal.

Almost two weeks later, the Iranian Supreme Leader declared five prerequisites for the EU to keep Tehran under the nuclear deal, underlining that the three European nations are necessitated to prove their trustworthiness after their disloyalty to a similar deal in 2005.

Addressing a meeting with former and present Iranian officials here in Tehran on May 24, the Iranian Leader reminded defiance of undertakings by Britain, France and Germany back in 2005 when Iran embarked on a voluntary implementation of the additional protocol to the NPT and halted nuclear activities, and said the European trio "showed a major disloyalty; they made a promise in 2004-2005, but defied. Now they should prove that today they won't show the dishonesty and disloyalty of that day".

Ayatollah Khamenei asked officials not to repeat a single mistake twice, and cautioned, "Europe has displayed that it accompanies the US in most sensitive cases."

He further blasted the Europeans for keeping mum about the US frequent violations of the 2015 nuclear deal in the last two years, and said "the EU is required to make up for this silence".

Ayatollah Khamenei reminded that the US has violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that accompanies the nuclear deal, and said hence "Europe should issue a resolution against the US violation" of the agreement.

He said "the EU should also undertake to avoid a discussion of Iran's missile and regional power".

The Iranian Leader reminded that the nuclear talks were aimed at the removal of the sanctions, "many of which were not lifted, while they have been recently threatening to revive the sanctions despite the emphasis of the UN Security Council resolution" to the otherwise.

The Leader further underlined that the EU should also pledge "to take action against any kind of sanction against the Islamic Republic and stand against the US sanctions on the basis of a clear-cut position".

"Europe is also needed to ensure Iran's full crude sales," he said, and explained, "In case the Americans manage to strike a blow at our oil sales, (we) should be able to sell whatever volume of oil that we want. The Europeans should compensate (for the loss in crude sales) in a guaranteed manner and buy Iran's crude."

Ayatollah Khamenei also underscored that the EU banks should also ensure trade with Iran, and said, "We don't want a fight with these three countries, but (we) don't trust them either because of their past record."

He further warned that "if Europeans delay in complying with our demands, then Iran would preserve its right for resuming nuclear activities". "Once we observe that the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) produces no fruit, then one way would be reviving the operations that have been shut down."

After Trump's declaration, the Iranian government issued a statement, calling the US withdrawal as "unlawful". The statement underlined Iran's prerequisites for continuing the deal with the five world powers after the US pullout of the agreement.

"Iran, as a country that has remained committed to its legal obligations, will pursue the US Government’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA as provided by the mechanisms and provisions of the accord, and if the US withdrawal is not fully compensated and the full interests of the Iranian people are not met and guaranteed – as stated in the accord and as outlined by Iran’s Leader on 9 May – it will exercise its legal right to take whatever reciprocal measures it deems expedient. Other parties to the JCPOA, and especially its three European signatories, must take necessary action to safeguard the accord and to implement their commitments – which they proved incapable of fully performing even while the US was nominally a party to the deal, due to the obstructions by the Trump Administration – and to proceed from giving pledges to taking practical action without any preconditions," it said.

"None of the provisions or timeframes within the JCPOA, which were the subject of twelve years of negotiations, are negotiable in any manner. The US, which has through its meddling and erroneous policies ignited extremism, terrorism, destruction, war and child killing in our region, is in no position to issue any diktat about the Islamic Republic of Iran’s lawful presence within its own region nor its effective support for the peoples of Syria and Iraq in their endeavor to fight extremists. The US and its allies, which through their support for the regime of Saddam Hussein, including equipping it with chemical weapons and the most advanced military equipment while blocking Iran’s access to any means of defense victimized the Iranian people for eight years, and currently turning our region into a powder keg through their sale of hundreds of billions of dollars of useless advanced weaponry devouring the financial resources of the region, are in no position to impose restrictions on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s lawful means of defense, including defensive ballistic missiles which have been designed to carry conventional weapons based on the bitter experiences of the war with the regime of Saddam Hussein. Indeed, such efforts explicitly violate the principles of international law, and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s legitimate right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter," it added.

"As announced by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 8 May, the Foreign Minister has been tasked with the duty of taking the necessary measures to obtain required guarantees from the remaining parties to the JCPOA as well as Iran’s other economic partners, and to immediately report the results of this mission. Meanwhile, the President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has been tasked with taking all necessary steps in preparation for Iran to pursue industrial-scale enrichment without any restrictions, using the results of the latest research and development of Iran’s brave nuclear scientists."

"The people of Iran will with calm and confidence continue their path towards progress and development and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has foreseen all necessary measures to facilitate this under any circumstances," the statement continued.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a secure and powerful state, which derives its security and economic development from within, relying on the prudent participation and resilience of its brave and civilized people, seeks constructive and dignified engagement with the world, and as shown by its implementation of the JCPOA despite the United States’ continuous violations, is a trustworthy and committed partner for all who are prepared to cooperate on the basis of shared interests and mutual respect," it reiterated.

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