Netanyahu: World must step up Iran sanctions if uranium threat realized
PM statement comes hours after Tehran announces it will break uranium stockpile limit set by nuclear deal in the next 10 days; Rouhani warns time running out to salvage nuclear deal in wake of Trump withdrawal
Netanyahu's comments came hours after the spokesman for Iran's atomic agency said the country would break the uranium stockpile limit set by Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in the next 10 days, and warned that Iran has the need for uranium enriched up to 20%, just a step away from weapons-grade levels.
"Should Iran deliver on its threats, the international community will have to implement, immediately, the pre-set sanctions mechanism," Netanyahu said a speech following Tehran's announcement.
The Iranian announcement indicated Tehran's determination to break from the landmark 2015 accord, which has steadily unraveled since the Trump administration pulled America out of the deal last year and re-imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran, sending its economy into freefall.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that time was short for Europe to save the international nuclear deal after Washington's unilateral withdrawal last year, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
"It's a crucial moment, and France can still work with other signatories of the deal and play an historic role to save the deal in this very short time," Rouhani was quoted as saying during a meeting with France's new ambassador in Iran.
Rouhani said the collapse of the nuclear deal would not be in the interests of the region and the world.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Monday that Iran had so far faithfully stuck to the curbs on uranium enrichment agreed as part of the deal, and that Moscow was unaware of any statement suggesting that Tehran intended to stop doing so.
"I haven't seen this statement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The new developments, which further threaten the future of the already shaky nuclear deal come in the wake of suspected attacks on oil tankers last week in the region, attacks that Washington and London have blamed on Iran, and also as tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States.
