An Iranian official threatened Wednesday to greatly accelerate the pace of the country’s uranium enrichment beyond the levels seen ahead of the 2015 nuclear deal if the United States decides to back out of the landmark pact and reimpose punishing sanctions on Tehran.
“Iran is ready to increase the speed of its nuclear activities in various areas, especially enrichment, several times more than pre-JCPOA era,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran in an interview with state television, using the technical acronym for the nuclear deal.
The comments came as a decision loomed for US President Donald Trump on whether to once against waive sanctions or put them back in place, effectively spelling the end for the nuclear deal, which lifted the financial penalties in exchange for Iran rolling back its enrichment program. Trump is expected to announce his decision Friday.
“If the sanctions suspension are not extended, that would violate the nuclear deal and the Islamic Republic of Iran will take first retaliatory action immediately,” Kamalvandi added.
Kamalvandi said possible measures also include decreasing the Islamic Republic’s cooperation with the UN nuclear agency — a possibility also mentioned earlier this week by Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi.
Iran would adhere to its commitments under previous agreements signed before the nuclear deal, the report added.
The U.S. Air Force has deployed three B-2 stealth bombers and 200 Airmen to Guam to support Pacific Command’s Bomber and Assurance Deterrence mission, according to a Pacific Air Forces statement.
The deployment comes amid discussions between North and South Korea involving the Winter Olympics. According to the Air Force, the deployment was scheduled, but still comes at a time of heightened tensions between the countries.
The B-2 nuclear-capable bombers and the 200 Airmen were deployed to Anderson Air Force Base as part of the Pentagon’s Bomber Assurance and Deterrence mission. For the past 15 years, the Pentagon has sent bombers into the Pacific as a show of support in the region.
A B-2 bomber was recently deployed to Guam in October, but was only there for a few hours for a training mission. The last time three B-2 bombers were deployed to Guam was roughly one year ago.
The move comes just days after North and South Korean leaders met to discuss the 2018 Winter Olympics next month.
North Korea agreed to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics, but still said they would not discuss denuclearization.
Earlier on Tuesday, South Korea had said it would temporarily lift sanctions on North Korea so that they could participate in the Olympic Games. South Korea also proposed that North Korean athletes should march with South Korean athletes during the Winter Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies.
President Donald Trump has also told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that the U.S. would be open to talks with North Korea “at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances,” the White House said Wednesday, Reuters reported.
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