The United Kingdom, France, and Germany on Tuesday called on Iran to "reverse its nuclear escalation," claiming that there is no "credible civilian justification" for the amount of highly enriched uranium it is stockpiling, AFP reported.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran has already become the only non-nuclear state to have uranium enriched to 60%, just a short step from military-grade level.
In a joint statement ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting, the three countries warned that "Iran's stockpile of High Enriched Uranium has … reached unprecedented levels, again without any credible civilian justification. It gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons."
The trio added: "Iran has ramped up its installation of advanced centrifuges, which is yet another damaging step in Iran's efforts to undermine the nuclear deal that they claim to support."
London, Paris, and Berlin on Dec. 6 informed the Security Council of their willingness to reimpose "snap back" sanctions on Iran over its illicit nuclear program.
"Iran must de-escalate its nuclear program to create the political environment conducive to meaningful progress and a negotiated solution," the U.N. ambassadors of the so-called E3 countries wrote in letter to the Security Council.
"We reiterate our determination to use all diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including using snap back if necessary," they added.
The threat comes after IAEA head Rafael Grossi confirmed that Tehran has in recent weeks sharply increased its uranium enrichment.
"Today, the agency is announcing that the [Iranian] production capacity is increasing dramatically, of the 60% inventory," said Grossi at the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain on Dec. 6.
The Islamic Republic already has enough 60% enriched uranium for four nuclear weapons in principle, should Tehran decide to enrich it further to the roughly 90% level needed, according to Reuters.
Enrichment is set to rise to "seven, eight times more, maybe, or even more" than the previous rate of five to seven kilograms a month, said Grossi, according to the report.
IAEA inspectors detected the increased enrichment activities at Iran's Fordow nuclear plant south of Tehran, he told the BBC.
The international community will lose the ability to snap back sanctions on the Islamic Republic when restrictions set forth in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) expire on Oct. 18, 2025. The resolution enshrined the Obama-led Iranian nuclear deal with Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the United States.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018, arguing that it did not sufficiently curb Tehran's path to acquiring a bomb.
Britain, France, and Germany agreed late last month to continue nuclear negotiations with Tehran following a meeting in Geneva and amid threats by Trump to reinstate a "maximum pressure" campaign on the Islamic Republic once he assumes office in January.
Trump's transition team is weighing two main options to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including preventative airstrikes, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing four people familiar with the plans.
The military option was under "more serious review" in the wake of the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria and Israel's decapitation of Hezbollah's leadership in Lebanon, according to the report.
The first option, the WSJ stressed, involves increased U.S. military pressure on Iran, and the selling of advanced weapons to Jerusalem, such as bunker-busting bombs, that would enhance its capacity to hit Tehran's formidable nuclear facilities, some of which are located deep underground.
The alternative involves American conflict with the Islamic Republic, directly threatening the Iranian ayatollahs with the military force. According to the WSJ, the administration would seek a diplomatic solution before resorting to force. Trump's Iran policy during his first term focused on economic sanctions.
All plans were in the early stages, the report added.
"Anything can happen," Trump said in an interview with Time on Thursday when asked about war with Iran. "It's a very volatile situation."
During Trump's recent electoral campaign, he was informed by U.S. intelligence officials about an Iranian plot to assassinate him.
Since he won the election in November, Trump held three phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after which the Israeli premier said that he and his American counterpart "see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in all its components, and the danger posed by it."
Republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate