Pompeo warns Iran of more ‘isolation, sanctions’

The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Iran will face further sanctions in response to its expected breach of a uranium enrichment cap.

“Iran’s latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions. 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,” Pompeo said on Twitter.

Earlier on Sunday Iran’s Deputy foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced Tehran would enrich uranium beyond the 3.67 percent threshold.

Araghchi also added that Tehran would keep reducing its commitments every 60 days unless signatories of the pact protected it from US sanctions imposed by President Trump.

“Today, Iran is taking its second round of remedial steps under Para 36 of the JCPOA. We reserve the right to continue to exercise legal remedies within JCPOA to protect our interests in the face of US #EconomicTerrorism. All such steps are reversible only through E3 compliance,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had written on his Twitter post.

“Having failed to implement their obligations under JCPOA—incl after US withdrawal–EU/E3 should at minimum politically support Iran’s remedial measures under Para 36, incl at IAEA. E3 have no pretexts to avoid a firm political stance to preserve JCPOA & counter U.S unilateralism,” he added.

Tehran has also threatened to abandon more nuclear commitments unless the remaining signatories of the deal — the UK, China, Germany, France and Russia — took steps to evade sanctions, especially to sell its crude.