Iran’s FM: Running New Centrifuges Response to Fresh US Sanctions
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s recent decision to feed gas into cascades of new centrifuge machines was a response to the US’ insane obsession with imposing new sanctions against the country, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said.
In remarks on Tuesday, the top Iranian diplomat said the “irrational” and “insane” sanctions the US has slapped on Iran will not have an adverse effect on the country’s progress.
“I would like to point out that in response to this American action, Iran started feeding gas into hundreds of new generation centrifuges last night,” he said.
Amirabdollahian made it clear that the Americans will not gain any concessions in the negotiations that aim to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement by imposing new sanctions, Press TV reported.
“They need to put aside their excessive demands,” he said. “We are people of logic and dialogue and we are serious about reaching a strong agreement, but if the Americans want to continue on this path, our hands will not be tied.”
Iran and the other parties to the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have been engaged in sporadic rounds of talks since last April to revive the JCPOA by bringing the US back into the deal.
The current crisis over Iran’s nuclear program was created in May 2018, when former US president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the JCPOA and imposed tough economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic under what he called the “maximum pressure” policy.
On Monday, US Treasury and State Department imposed sanctions on a total of six companies, four based in Hong Kong, one in Singapore, and one in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The US said the firms have helped Iran sell tens of millions of dollars in oil and petrochemical products to East Asian countries.
Later in the day, Iran said it was beginning to feed gas into hundreds of advanced IR-1 and IR-6 machines after notifying the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).