Iran violated nuclear deal, world leaders concerned

(Patria) – European and world leaders expressed concern over Iran's statement on Monday that it had accumulated more enriched uranium than permitted under the nuclear deal that this country has with several signatory world powers.

US President Donald Trump stated that Iran is 'playing with fire', and the White House announced that they will continue the policy of maximum pressure until Iran changes its approach, and that Iran should not be allowed to enrich uranium at all.

The Foreign Minister of Great Britain, one of the signatories to the deal, Jeremy Hunt, stated that the deal must be maintained because 'we do not want Iran to possess nuclear weapons, but if Iran violates the deal, we will withdraw from it too'.

'We have not violated the deal,' Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif announced on his Twitter profile, adding: 'Paragraph 36 of the deal explains why. We applied paragraph 36 after the US withdrawal. We gave E3+2 several weeks, reserving our right. We finally took action after 60 weeks. As soon as E3 fulfills its obligations, we will too.'

Zarif attached paragraph 36 to the post, which explains the dispute resolution mechanism if any of the signatories fail to meet their obligations. E3 refers to Germany, Great Britain, and France, and 2 to Russia and China, writes Euronews.