Iranian production of enriched uranium has reportedly quadrupled one week after the country stopped some commitments under their international nuclear deal.
Reports of Iran increasing their production came from two semi-official Iranian news agencies on Monday, according to The Associated Press.
The uranium is reportedly only enriched to the 3.67 percent limit set by the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, but the increased production means Tehran will soon break the stockpile limitations established by the accord.
ADVERTISEMENT
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson of Iran’s nuclear agency, told the news agencies, Fars and Tasnim, that Iran would reach the 300-kilogram limit “in weeks.”
The production boost comes as tensions between the U.S. and Iran are rising.
President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump: ‘I will not let Iran have nuclear weapons’ Rocket attack hits Baghdad’s Green Zone amid escalating tensions: reports Buttigieg on Trump tweets: ‘I don’t care’ MORE in 2018 announced he would withdraw the U.S. from the deal. On the one-year anniversary of that move, Iran said it will scale back some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.
The Trump administration has also deployed bombers and an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf in response to unspecified threats from Iran.
Earlier this year, the U.S. named Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, with Iran responding in kind for U.S. troops in the Middle East.