This decision will bring the agreement to the brink of collapse. (File)
Washington:
The United States said on Wednesday that it is ending sanctions waivers against countries that remain in the Iranian nuclear deal, further bringing the deal into bankruptcy.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was responding to Iran’s “defeat” of the nuclear measures, which were designed to pressure the United States to drop the sanctions as planned 2015 agreement.
“These escalation actions are unacceptable and I cannot justify renewing the exemption,” said Pompeo in a statement.
President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, under which Iran had severely limited its nuclear activities.
But the Trump administration has so far granted waivers to allow companies, mainly from Russia, which are still present in Iran to implement the agreement.
The United States will in particular remove the exemptions that allowed the modification of the Arak heavy water reactor, which prevented it from using plutonium for military purposes, as well as the export of spent fuel and scrap of the reactor of research.
Pompeo said the United States is granting a final 60-day waiver to allow companies involved in the projects to complete their operations.
The United States, however, did not stop to stop international support for Bushehr, the only oil-rich Iranian nuclear power plant, where Russia supplied fuel.
Pompeo said the United States granted Bushehr a 90-day extension to “keep operations safe,” but reserved the right to change it at will.
To justify these measures, Pompeo also highlighted recent comments by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said it was an “Islamic duty” to fight for the “liberation of Palestine” and said denounced the supporters of Israel.
Pompeo accused Khamenei of invoking the Holocaust, saying: “The regime’s base rhetoric only strengthens the determination of the international community to counter its threats.”
Britain, France and Germany – as well as Russia and China – still support the nuclear deal, saying it works by curtailing Iran’s nuclear activities.
The Trump administration, which has close ties to Israel and Iran’s regional rival, Saudi Arabia, called the deal a “disaster” and said the biggest problem was to curb Tehran’s activities In the region.
The Iranian economy has been under intense pressure on sanctions, while Trump has also used military force, killing a senior Iranian general in a drone strike in January.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
