The US has signalled its willingness to “show up” to multilateral talks with Iran on reviving the 2015 nuclear energy deal with former president Donald Trump withdrew from. But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed it would pave the way for Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has accused Western powers of hypocrisy after reports Israel is expanding its weapons-grade uranium plant.
In a tweet on Saturday, Zarif seized on media reports of new works in progress at the Dimona facility in the Negev desert — which enriches fissile for Israel’s unofficial but widely acknowledged nuclear arsenal.
Earlier this week the so-called E3 — the UK, France and Germany — and the US demanded that Iran cease uranium enrichment. In January, Iran’s Fordow plant resumed refining uranium to a 20 per cent concentration of fissile isotope uranium-235 at a rate of half-a-kilo per day. That degree of purity is way below the 90 per cent level needed for nuclear weapons, but higher than used in most nuclear reactors.
They also warned Tehran against moves to block International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections mandated under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) unless all other parties honour their own commitments under the pact.
Washington is yet to return the JCPOA, which former president Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 — re-imposing sanctions on Iranian oil exports that were lifted under the deal.
But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned the US on Friday that reviving the JCPOA would “pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.”
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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