Former State Department officials are warning of rising risks attached to Iran’s announcement that it will begin injecting uranium gas into over 1,000 centrifuges at one of its main underground facilities beginning at Thursday at midnight.
The latest move, announced Wednesday, will allow Iran to enrich uranium “far beyond any limitation that it agreed to the Iran nuclear agreement,” Marc Ginsberg, a former U.S. ambassador to Morocco, told a Capitol Hill briefing organized by a leading umbrella group of anti-regime organizations.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Organization of Iranian-American Communities on Capitol Hill, he said “Iran is determined to get nuclear weapons, Iran is determined to inflict pain and suffering on America and its allies in the Middle East.”
The discussion largely focused on the increase in domestic suppression and regional aggression by Tehran, and highlighted speakers including Sens. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, and John Boozman, Arkansas Republican.
Ambassador Robert Joseph, the former envoy for nuclear nonproliferation under the Bush administration, said “the urgency to act should be evident to all. This is a call to action.”
“Iran is moving step by step to openly reconstitute its nuclear weapons capabilities,” Mr. Joseph said.
He explained the latest development constitutes a “strong bipartisan resolve to meet the threat.”
“Only a free and democratic Iran will end the threat, the terrorist threat, the national threat, and the nuclear threat that we face today,” Mr. Joseph added.
A spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi, told state television that the uranium enrichment will rise up to 4.5%, but is “reversible” if European nations allow Iranian oil to be sold in its markets.
The 4.5% level, while significantly below weapons-grade levels, is enough to help power Iran’s only nuclear power plant, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. sanctions have been enforced on Iranian oil as well as its economic industry in the wake of the President Trump’s withdrawal in 2018 from the Obama-era nuclear accord, and after several military altercations over the summer between Iran and the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia.
The latest move also increases pressure on European countries to remain in an agreement that has been subject to scrutiny as several nations have accused Iran of violating their accord. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has threatened to withdraw from the deal at the start of 2020 if promised relief from economic sanctions is not delivered.
If Iran were to pull out of the deal with European nations, various surveillance methods and accountability procedures would be at risk of ending.
“We cannot tolerate unilateral fulfillment of our commitments and no commitment from their side,” Mr. Rouhani said Wednesday.
Several international organizations have condemned Tehran’s recent steps to breach the 2015 deal, and European Union spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said the group is “concerned” by the announcement.
State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that “Iran has no credible reason to expand its uranium enrichment program, at the Fordo facility or elsewhere, other than a clear attempt at nuclear extortion that will only deepen its political and economic isolation.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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