Iran set to breach pact’s enrichment limit

Vow to exit nuclear deal follows new US sanctions

Iran announced Sunday that it was moving forward with its threats to increase its uranium enrichment beyond the levels set by a 2015 multilateral agreement in its latest violation of the deal aimed at stopping the regime from developing nuclear weapons.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would “take the next step” and increase its enrichment of uranium, vowing to raise it to “any amount that we want” beginning Sunday unless European nations in the agreement were able to offset U.S. sanctions. And earlier last week, Iran exceeded a limit on how much nuclear fuel it can possess under the agreement.

“Be careful with the threats, Iran,” Trump tweeted in response to Rouhani’s statement. “They can come back to bite you like nobody has been bitten before!”

“Iran’s latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday. “Nations should restore the longstanding standard of no enrichment for Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s regime, armed with nuclear weapons, would pose an even greater danger to the world.”

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have grown in recent weeks as Trump threatened to respond with “overwhelming force” if Iran attacked any U.S. personnel or assets.

Last month, the president considered military strikes in retaliation against Iran for the downing of an unmanned U.S. drone. But he said he decided against it when he learned as many as 150 Iranians could be killed in the strikes, which he said would not have been “proportionate” to the loss of a drone.

A year ago, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which had been negotiated by the Obama administration. Since then, the Trump administration has increased sanctions on the regime. In response, Iran has warned the European powers still in the deal that it, too, would begin to back out of the accord.