Iranian nuclear agency says it can enrich uranium at any percentage

An Iranian official said Saturday that the country’s nuclear agency now has the capacity to enrich uranium at any percentage if leaders in Tehran give the green light.

“At the moment, if (Iranian authorities) make the decision, the Atomic Energy Organization, as the executor, will be able to enrich uranium at any percentage,” the agency’s deputy head, Ali Asghar Zarean, said in a post on its website, according to Reuters.

Iran declared on state television earlier this month that it would no longer impose limits on its enrichment of uranium, rolling back the country’s commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal that the Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from in 2018.

Zarean said that Iran’s stock of uranium production has surpassed 1,200 kilograms, and it will soon reinforce the nation’s total supply, according to Reuters.

The U.S. has pushed Iran to agree to new limits on its nuclear and ballistic missiles programs and an end of its proxy operations in the Middle East as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign.

Iran has denied that it intends to acquire nuclear weapons, and has refused to negotiate without sanctions being lifted.

Recently, Germany, France and the United Kingdom accused Iran of violating the Obama-era nuclear accord, saying they would move to formally sanction the country.

Iran last week reportedly threatened to withdraw from a global non-proliferation treaty if European nations went ahead with referring the country to the U.N. Security Council for an alleged violation of the nuclear deal.