Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday an announced increase of uranium enrichment by Iran was an extremely dangerous move and he again called on Europe to impose punitive sanctions on Tehran.
Netanyahu made the remarks after Iran said it is fully prepared to enrich uranium at any level and with any amount, in further defiance of US efforts to squeeze it with sanctions and force it to renegotiate a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
In a news conference broadcast live, senior Iranian officials said Tehran, which has denied seeking nuclear arms, would keep reducing its commitments every 60 days unless signatories of the pact moved to protect it from US sanctions.
"This is a very, very dangerous step," Netanyahu said in public remarks to his cabinet.
"Iran has violated its solemn promise under the UN Security Council not to enrich uranium beyond a certain level," he said.
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"I call on my friends, the heads of France, Britain, and Germany - you signed this deal and you said that as soon as they take this step, severe sanctions will be imposed - that was the Security Council resolution. Where are you?" Netanyahu said.
If anyone of the three European parties to the accord believe Iran has violated the agreement, they can trigger a dispute resolution process that could, within as few as 65 days, end at the UN Security Council with a reimposition of UN sanctions on Tehran.
The other remaining signatories, Russia and China, are allies of Iran and unlikely to make such a move.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Sunday its inspectors who are in Iran will report back once they have checked that Tehran has enriched uranium to a higher level of purity than that allowed under its nuclear deal.
"We are aware of Iran's announcement related to its uranium enrichment level," a spokesman for the UN nuclear watchdog said.
"IAEA inspectors in Iran will report to our headquarters as soon as they verify the announced development."
This article has been adapted from its original source.
