Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday to “never let Iran develop nuclear weapons” after Tehran announced it was expanding its uranium enrichment efforts in a further breach of the 2015 nuclear deal.
”Iran expands its aggression everywhere. It seeks to envelop Israel. It seeks to threaten Israel. It seeks to destroy Israel,” Netanyahu said at an event in Jerusalem’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
“We fight back,” he added.
“And I also want to say, given Iran’s efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program, expand its enrichment of uranium for making atomic bombs, I repeat here once again: We will never let Iran develop nuclear weapons. This is not only for our security and our future; it’s for the future of the Middle East and the world.”
Netanyahu spoke just hours after Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced that Tehran will begin injecting uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges located at the heavily fortified Fordo facility in Iran’s Qom Province.
The move marks Tehran’s latest step away from its nuclear deal with world powers since US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord over a year ago.
The development is significant as the centrifuges previously spun empty, without gas injection, under the accord. It also increases pressure on European nations that remain in the accord, which has all but collapsed.
A statement carried in Iranian media later Tuesday said enrichment would go to five percent beginning Wednesday, when the centrifuges at Fordo would be injected with uranium gas.
Rouhani’s remarks, carried live on Iranian state television, came a day after Tehran’s nuclear program chief said the country had doubled the number of advanced IR-6 centrifuges in operation.
No comments:
Post a Comment