Iran to break uranium stockpile limit set by nuclear deal, spokesman says

Amid increased brinksmanship with the United States, Iran announced Monday its intention to exceed the low-enriched uranium stockpile limit it agreed to in the 2015 nuke deal -- unless certain demands are met by the pact's remaining signatories within the next 10 days.

More provocatively, the Islamic Republic's Atomic Energy Organization spokesman warned Iran could enrich uranium up to 20 percent -- just a step below weapons-grade level.

Behrouz Kamalvandi spoke to journalists at the country's Arak heavy water facility. He acknowledged Iran has already quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium — which can be used in a nuclear reactor, but not in a bomb.

Under terms of the multinational nuke deal -- engineered by the Obama administration in July 2015 but significantly weakened when the Trump administration withdrew in May 2018 -- Iran can keep a stockpile of no more than 660 pounds of low-enriched uranium. Kamalvandi said that, given Iran's recent decision to quadruple its production of low-enriched uranium, it would pass the 660-pound limit on June 27.

The spokesperson said, however, the country would stay within the limits of the original deal -- but only if Britain, France, Germany and the rest of the European Union followed through with plans to give Iran access to international banking systems, according to The New York Times.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said last month that Iran was still within the stockpile limits.

Kamalvandi said Iran needs five percent enrichment for its nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr and also needs 20 percent enrichment for a Tehran research reactor. The nuke deal, however, limited Iran to 3.67 percent enrichment, which is enough for power plants and non-weaponized uses.