After Iran announced on Sunday that it would surpass the limit on uranium enrichment, set at 3.67% by the 2015 nuclear deal, US Secretary of State tweeted that the “latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions.”
Iran’s latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions. Nations should restore the longstanding standard of no enrichment for Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s regime, armed with nuclear weapons, would pose an even greater danger to the world.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 7, 2019
As Iran says it will continue to breach the terms of the deal, European leaders are hoping to salvage it, but Iran says they were not able to provide economic relief from sanctions ahead of the July 7 deadline imposed by the nation.
The US dropped out of the nuclear agreement in 2018, and has slapped sanctions on Iran which have seen its oil exports crash by almost 90%. Although eight countries initially received waivers to continue importing oil from Iran, they expired in April 2019.
In June, OPEC nations produced a total of 29.6mn barrels per day of oil, a five-year low for the organisation, despite Saudi Arabia maintaining consistent production.