Washington: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said it is "not good" Iran has breached its stockpile limit of low-enriched uranium.
"Iran was violating the 150 Billion Dollar (plus 1.8 Billion Dollar in CASH) Nuclear Deal with the United States, and others who paid NOTHING, long before I became President - and they have now breached their stockpile limit. Not good!" Trump tweeted.
Iran was violating the 150 Billion Dollar (plus 1.8 Billion Dollar in CASH) Nuclear Deal with the United States, and others who paid NOTHING, long before I became President - and they have now breached their stockpile limit. Not good!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019
The White House had on Monday said that Washington would continue to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime until it "ends its nuclear ambitions and malign behaviour".
"Maximum pressure on the Iranian regime will continue until its leaders alter their course of action. The regime must end its nuclear ambitions and its malign behaviour," the statement read.
However, Iran has maintained that it never violated the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Citing an "informed source", Iran's Fars news agency had on Monday reported that Iran has exceeded the amount of enriched uranium that it was allowed to have under the 2015 deal.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had said that his country has not violated the deal as it has taken all decisions while strictly sticking to the "dispute resolution mechanism" mentioned in it.
Tehran had stopped complying with some elements of the agreement in May, a year after the US unilaterally withdrew from the deal.
The agreement was reached to limit Iran's civilian energy programme and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from sanctions that were crippling the country's economy.
The deal was hailed as a major diplomatic victory by the Obama administration. However, last year, Trump-led US government had withdrawn from the deal, terming it as "defective at its core".
Washington's decision of pulling out from the agreement soured its ties with Iran. In the past year, the Trump administration has slapped a multitude of sanctions on Tehran citing the latter's support to state-sponsored terrorism and conflicts.
