Tehran ready to enrich uranium to 20%. Nuclear agreement increasingly at risk

The Islamic Republic ready to restore the centrifuges deactivated under the Jcpoa.  The head of the Pasdaran states: we do not want nuclear weapons, they are against Islam.  For Washington, the maximum pressure policy "is working".  The Iranian volleyball team is held for hours a Chicago airport.

Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The trade, diplomatic and verbal war underway for over a year between Tehran and Washington reached new heights yesterday when the leaders of the Islamic Republic threatened to restore the centrifuges deactivated following the nuclear agreement  and to push uranium enrichment to the 20% purity threshold.  However, the head of the Pasdaran (the guardians of the Islamic Revolution) states that Iran does not intend to pursue the nuclear weapons project.

The threat to increase the degree of enrichment of uranium made by the head of the Tehran nuclear agency is a step that goes far beyond the choices made in recent weeks.  It represents one of the main reversals of the key points of the agreement and raises serious doubts about its actual effectiveness and current validity.

International powers, particularly the United States and Israel, suspect that Tehran wants to resume the path interrupted four years ago, aimed at building the atomic bomb for military purposes. 

Major General Hossein Salami, head of the Pasdaran, flatly denied this stating  "the world knows that we are not looking for (nuclear) weapons".  These type of weapons, he adds, "has no place in Islam" which "does not approve of weapons of mass destruction".

On the US front, John Bolton, national security adviser and advocate of a hardline against Tehran, believes "maximum pressure campaign" by US sanctions "is working" and "the president's goal is to  sign a new agreement, which will be negotiated considering what is best for the United States ”.

US-Iranian tensions were triggered by US President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ​​agreed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, which was followed by the toughest sanctions in history against Iran. Washington, which has its sight sets on the oil exports of the Islamic Republic has strengthened the military presence in the area.

Meanwhile, the clash between the two countries is also hitting the world of sports: the Iranian authorities yesterday accused the US of having "detained" the national volleyball team at Chicago airport for several hours.  "If America - said an official of the Iranian Foreign Ministry - is not able to host all the teams in a neutral and fair manner, it is better to stop organizing sporting events".

The volleyball team of the Islamic Republic is in the United States to participate in the final (final six) stage of the Nations League 2019. The team will take the arena on 11 July against Poland and the next day against Brazil, to win the  access to the final.  The official Irna agency recalls that in the past the national team went to the US for friendly matches "and no problems had ever occurred".