'Seriously?': Zarif mocks US, insists Iran has not violated deal - Aljazeera.com

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Tehran had not violated its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after its stockpiles of enriched uranium breached a limit set in the landmark accord.

Iran on Monday announced its reserves of enriched uranium had surpassed the 300kg cap and said its next step would be to enrich uranium above the 3.67 percent limit in the accord, unless European powers did more to protect the Iranian economy from harsh US sanctions.

Last year, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal, which imposed limits on Iran's nuclear activity in return for removing international sanctions on its economy. After leaving the accord, the US reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

In a statement on Monday, the White House said there was "little doubt that even before the deal's existence, Iran was violating its terms".

Making light of the US reaction on Tuesday, Zarif tweeted a screengrab of the statement, asking: "Seriously?"

Seriously? pic.twitter.com/oZApumVt2T

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) 2 July 2019

The foreign minister, who has been personally targeted in the latest round of US sanctions, said the Iranian move did not violate the accord, whose remaining signatories include China, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

"We had previously announced this and were transparent in saying what we are going to do," he told reporters. "We consider it our right, reserved in the nuclear deal."

"Actions by the Europeans have not been enough, so we will move ahead with our plan," he said.

US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that Tehran was "playing with fire" by exceeding the limits on uranium reserves, drawing criticism from Iran's parliament speaker.

"Mr Trump should understand that when one uses bullying language against a civilised nation, they become more united," Ali Larijani said on Tuesday in remarks broadcast on state television.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran had breached the cap on enriched uranium reserves.

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A diplomat in Vienna, where the UN's nuclear watchdog is based, told AFP news agency that Iran had exceeded the limit by two kilogrammes.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Iran's move was a cause for "regret" but also "a natural consequence of recent events" and a result of the "unprecedented pressure" from the US.

"One mustn't dramatise the situation," Ryabkov, whose country is a close ally of Tehran, said in comments reported by Russian news agencies.

UK's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter that London was "deeply worried" and urged Iran to "come back to compliance" with the nuclear deal.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said it was "essential" that Iran sticks to the deal.

Escalating tensions

The relationship between Washington and Tehran has been tense since the US withdrawal, with biting sanctions damaging Iran's oil exports and other key sectors of its slowing economy.

While the European powers have moved to create a trade mechanism to skirt the sanctions, known as INSTEX, Tehran has said it does not meet Iran's needs.

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On Friday, the European Union said that INSTEX, which was designed to allow European companies to trade with Iran effectively via a barter system, was operational and that the first transactions were being processed.

But "the Europeans' efforts were not enough, therefore Iran will go ahead with its announced measures", Zarif said.

INSTEX, which "is just the beginning" of their commitments, has not yet been fully implemented, he added.

Iran has also threatened to start enriching uranium above the agreed maximum purification level of 3.67 percent from July 7. That remains far short of the 90 percent purity required to build a weapon.

The latest tensions coincide with a buildup of US forces in the Gulf and a series of incidents, including Iran's shooting down of a US drone it claimed had entered its airspace.

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2019-07-02 09:53:00Z
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Solar eclipse 2019: How to watch the solar eclipse TODAY when the moon blocks out sun - Express.co.uk

Today, Tuesday, July 2, a total solar eclipse will take place - turning the sky dark as the Sun is temporarily covered by the Moon. The eclipse is expected to last for four minutes and 33 seconds and is the only total solar eclipse to take place in 2019. Areas in the path of the eclipse will be plunged temporarily into darkness as the Moon blocks the Sun’s rays.

How to watch the solar eclipse

The solar eclipse will be visible over a 125-mile (200km) wide path which spans from coast to coast across Chile and Argentina.

However, the maximum time of four minutes and 33 seconds may be visible only to observers on boats and aeroplanes, as it will be happening over the Pacific Ocean.

Countries nearby such as Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Ecuador will be able to witness a partial eclipse, as only part of the Sun will be blocked.

Totality will first make landfall over Oeno Island, a British territory in the South Pacific Ocean, at 10.24 am local time (7.24pm BST).

Read More: Solar Eclipse: WATCH the first ever total eclipse filmed in 1900

It will reach the coast of Chile near the city of La Serena at 4:39pm local time (8.39pm BST).

It will skim over Cordoba and Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as Montevideo, Uruguay, passing just south of these three cities before heading back out to the Atlantic Ocean just before sunset at 5.40pm local time (9.40pm BST).

Moving southeast, the Moon’s shadow will cross the Andes mountains and graze San Juan, Argentina, which lies just inside the path of totality.

If you are not in the area, the eclipse is being live streamed from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) which will switch between three telescopes.

Read More: NASA Apollo 12: US space agency examines ‘top-secret’ Moon rock sample

Should there be bad weather this broadcast could be impaired, but currently there is a 40 percent chance of a clear sky.

The ESO webcast will begin at 3.15pm EDT (8.15 BST), which is one hour and 24 minutes before totality occurs.

You can watch it at eso.org/public/live or on YouTube.

Website Slooh will also be broadcasting the eclipse live, with commentary by astrophysicist Paige Godfrey via Slooh’s telescope partners in Chile.

However, this live stream is only available via Slooh’s paid membership, which begins at £3.91 ($4.95) per month.

Read More: NASA Moon landing warning: Humans at risk from crippling illness

For those able to watch the total solar eclipse as it happens, remember to wear eye protection.

Looking at the Sun’s rays can flood the retina at the back of the eyeball and cause it to become overstimulated, and damage the retina.

This can be painless, so often those who are looking at the Sun do not realise they are damaging their eyes.

Wearing specially designed sun filters or using pinhole viewers are safe ways to observe the eclipse in person.

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2019-07-02 07:37:00Z
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Hong Kong's democracy movement was about hope. These protests are driven by desperation - CNN

It encapsulated the feeling of the protest and how far the mood has shifted since the optimism of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when Hong Kong protesters were lauded worldwide for being peaceful and respectful. During those protests, there was a real sense that true change was possible, that the city's long demand of democracy was on the verge of being met.

When the Umbrella Movement failed, things began to turn.

Two years later, protesters clashed violently with police over an attempt to crack down on an open-air food market, in what became known as the "Mong Kok fish ball riot." The government responded with a barrage of prosecutions and ejected several pro-democracy lawmakers from the legislature.

Last month, a bill that would allow extradition to China galvanized opposition from a wide swath of society and uncorked the anger and frustration that has been bubbling under the surface since 2014.

For weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have marched against the bill, leading to it being shelved though not formally withdrawn, while smaller -- but still substantial -- protests have clashed with police. Tear gas and rubber bullets were used to clear a major occupation on June 12, leading to allegations of police brutality and even angrier protests, several of which targeted the police headquarters and blocked officers inside.

A growing divide in the protest camp became clear Monday, as a peaceful pro-democracy march passed by the legislature where a splinter group of protesters was clashing with police and attempting to break in to the government headquarters.

With police nowhere in sight, the anger among the breakaway protest group exploded, as the mostly young, masked protesters smashed windows of the government building, forced their way inside through metal shutters and then trashed nearly everything in sight, including the legislative chamber.

"We hope the government will listen to the people," a masked protester said inside the chamber. "Return power to the people. This city, Hong Kong, belongs to her seven million citizens."

While protesters beat a tactical retreat late Monday -- some were forcibly carried out by fellow demonstrators who wanted to stay out of the building -- they promised they would return if their demands were not met.

Desperation and destruction

Watching the chaos inside the legislature Monday were several grim-faced, pro-democracy lawmakers, who had earlier attempted to stop protesters storming the building, only to be shouted down and blamed for their previous failure to block the extradition bill.

"This is really not what we like to see," said pro-democracy Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung.

He blamed the violence on the "lack of positive response to the public" after weeks of demonstrations and noted that Chief Executive Carrie Lam had refused to meet with opposition lawmakers ahead of Monday's protests.

"Lam has been hiding away for weeks, not even facing the media," he said. "In the meantime, we have had three young people who took their lives in desperation ... that really made young people desperate. They feel the lives of these comrades have been taken by the regime and they feel like they have some responsibility."

Images of three people whose suicides have been linked to the protests were everywhere Monday, and protesters have made them martyrs, often ignoring warnings about suicide contagion by doing so.

The mood among many protesters at the government headquarters -- all of whom wore masks but appeared to be in their mid-to-late teens and early twenties -- was often bleak.

"Hong Kong is not China yet," read one slogan spray painted inside the legislature, while another said: "There are no rioters, only a tyranny."

The fear for many is that the territory is turning into just another Chinese city. They worry that time is running out to shore up democratic reforms and political freedoms before the handover agreement that the British struck in 1997 expires in 2047 and Hong Kong truly becomes part of China.

Cheung, and the older pro-democrats, aren't in charge of channeling this fear and activism, nor are the generation of student leaders who came to prominence during the Umbrella Movement. Joshua Wong, released from prison at the height of protests last month, tried and failed to take some degree of control, but protesters have preferred to remain leaderless and fluid, adopting Bruce Lee's slogan: "Be like water."

While there are advantages to a leaderless model -- not least that there aren't obvious targets for prison sentences -- there are risks, too. With no one in charge, angry protests can quickly escalate without a plan for what comes next, as many protesters admitted was the case yesterday.

Changing mood

Being a young Hong Konger isn't easy. Housing prices and living costs rise each year, while youth employment rates have been largely stagnant and many young graduates struggle to find work.

The younger generation also lacks many of the reasons for optimism that previous ones did. Many older Hong Kongers, who grew up in a British colony, strongly identify with China and saw a point of pride in the city returning to Chinese rule, even pro-democrats. Today, the number of people who express pride in being a Chinese citizen is at a record low, with a significant number of young people identifying as Hong Kongers rather than Chinese, according to the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Program.

This stronger sense of identity with the city and opposition to China, has created a generation of protesters for whom this really is an all or nothing fight. Their ties are not to country, but to city and each other, as seen when protesters returned to the legislature minutes before the police clearance to drag out some who wanted to stay and face the consequences, determined that all would share the same fate.

And if they're doomed to lose, many now appear intent on doing so with a fight.

"If we burn, you burn with us."

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/asia/hong-kong-protests-anger-intl/index.html

2019-07-02 06:29:00Z
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Hong Kong's democracy movement was about hope. These protests are driven by desperation - CNN

It encapsulated the feeling of the protest and how far the mood has shifted since the optimism of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, when Hong Kong protesters were lauded worldwide for being peaceful and respectful. During those protests, there was a real sense that true change was possible, that the city's long demand of democracy was on the verge of being met.

When the Umbrella Movement failed, things began to turn.

Two years later, protesters clashed violently with police over an attempt to crack down on an open-air food market, in what became known as the "Mong Kok fish ball riot." The government responded with a barrage of prosecutions and ejected several pro-democracy lawmakers from the legislature.

Last month, a bill that would allow extradition to China galvanized opposition from a wide swath of society and uncorked the anger and frustration that has been bubbling under the surface since 2014.

For weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have marched against the bill, leading to it being shelved though not formally withdrawn, while smaller -- but still substantial -- protests have clashed with police. Tear gas and rubber bullets were used to clear a major occupation on June 12, leading to allegations of police brutality and even angrier protests, several of which targeted the police headquarters and blocked officers inside.

A growing divide in the protest camp became clear Monday, as a peaceful pro-democracy march passed by the legislature where a splinter group of protesters was clashing with police and attempting to break in to the government headquarters.

With police nowhere in sight, the anger among the breakaway protest group exploded, as the mostly young, masked protesters smashed windows of the government building, forced their way inside through metal shutters and then trashed nearly everything in sight, including the legislative chamber.

"We hope the government will listen to the people," a masked protester said inside the chamber. "Return power to the people. This city, Hong Kong, belongs to her seven million citizens."

While protesters beat a tactical retreat late Monday -- some were forcibly carried out by fellow demonstrators who wanted to stay out of the building -- they promised they would return if their demands were not met.

Desperation and destruction

Watching the chaos inside the legislature Monday were several grim-faced, pro-democracy lawmakers, who had earlier attempted to stop protesters storming the building, only to be shouted down and blamed for their previous failure to block the extradition bill.

"This is really not what we like to see," said pro-democracy Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung.

He blamed the violence on the "lack of positive response to the public" after weeks of demonstrations and noted that Chief Executive Carrie Lam had refused to meet with opposition lawmakers ahead of Monday's protests.

"Lam has been hiding away for weeks, not even facing the media," he said. "In the meantime, we have had three young people who took their lives in desperation ... that really made young people desperate. They feel the lives of these comrades have been taken by the regime and they feel like they have some responsibility."

Images of three people whose suicides have been linked to the protests were everywhere Monday, and protesters have made them martyrs, often ignoring warnings about suicide contagion by doing so.

The mood among many protesters at the government headquarters -- all of whom wore masks but appeared to be in their mid-to-late teens and early twenties -- was often bleak.

"Hong Kong is not China yet," read one slogan spray painted inside the legislature, while another said: "There are no rioters, only a tyranny."

The fear for many is that the territory is turning into just another Chinese city. They worry that time is running out to shore up democratic reforms and political freedoms before the handover agreement that the British struck in 1997 expires in 2047 and Hong Kong truly becomes part of China.

Cheung, and the older pro-democrats, aren't in charge of channeling this fear and activism, nor are the generation of student leaders who came to prominence during the Umbrella Movement. Joshua Wong, released from prison at the height of protests last month, tried and failed to take some degree of control, but protesters have preferred to remain leaderless and fluid, adopting Bruce Lee's slogan: "Be like water."

While there are advantages to a leaderless model -- not least that there aren't obvious targets for prison sentences -- there are risks, too. With no one in charge, angry protests can quickly escalate without a plan for what comes next, as many protesters admitted was the case yesterday.

Changing mood

Being a young Hong Konger isn't easy. Housing prices and living costs rise each year, while youth employment rates have been largely stagnant and many young graduates struggle to find work.

The younger generation also lacks many of the reasons for optimism that previous ones did. Many older Hong Kongers, who grew up in a British colony, strongly identify with China and saw a point of pride in the city returning to Chinese rule, even pro-democrats. Today, the number of people who express pride in being a Chinese citizen is at a record low, with a significant number of young people identifying as Hong Kongers rather than Chinese, according to the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Program.

This stronger sense of identity with the city and opposition to China, has created a generation of protesters for whom this really is an all or nothing fight. Their ties are not to country, but to city and each other, as seen when protesters returned to the legislature minutes before the police clearance to drag out some who wanted to stay and face the consequences, determined that all would share the same fate.

And if they're doomed to lose, many now appear intent on doing so with a fight.

"If we burn, you burn with us."

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/asia/hong-kong-protests-anger-intl/index.html

2019-07-02 05:28:00Z
52780321727816

Trump: Iran 'playing with fire' with uranium enrichment - Aljazeera.com

Iran has announced on Monday it had amassed more low-enriched uranium than permitted under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, drawing a warning from US President Donald Trump that Tehran was "playing with fire".

Tehran's announcement marked its first major step beyond the terms of the pact since the United States pulled out of it more than a year ago. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the move was not a violation of the accord, arguing that Iran was exercising its right to respond to the US walkout.

The step, however, could have far-reaching consequences for diplomacy at a time when European countries are trying to pull the US and Iran back from confrontation. It comes less than two weeks after Trump said he ordered retaliatory air strikes on Iran, only to cancel them at the last minute. 

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported that the country's enriched uranium stockpile has now passed the 300kg limit allowed under the deal.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which monitors Iran's nuclear programme under the deal, confirmed in Vienna that Tehran had breached the limit.

Trump, asked if he had a message for Iran, said: "No message to Iran. They know what they're doing. They know what they're playing with, and I think they're playing with fire. So, no message to Iran whatsoever."

The White House said earlier it would continue to apply "maximum pressure" on Iran "until its leaders alter their course of action". It also said Iran should be held to a standard barring all uranium enrichment.

'We have NOT violated JCPOA'

However, there is no international standard prohibiting Iran from enriching uranium, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. "That is not the case. That is an American position," he told Reuters news agency.

European powers, who remain party to the accord and have tried to keep it in place, urged Iran not to take further steps that would violate it. But they held off on declaring the agreement void or announcing sanctions of their own.

"We have NOT violated the #JCPOA," Zarif wrote on Twitter, referring to the deal by the acronym for its formal title, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

He referred to a paragraph of the accord which contains the mechanism for countries to resolve disputes over compliance.

"As soon as E3 abide by their obligations, we'll reverse," he said, referring to European powers Britain, Germany and France. Iran has demanded they guarantee it the access to world trade envisioned under the deal.

We have NOT violated the #JCPOA.

Para 36 of the accord illustrates why:

We triggered & exhausted para 36 after US withdrawal.

We gave E3+2 a few weeks while reserving our right.

We finally took action after 60 weeks.

As soon as E3 abide by their obligations, we'll reverse. pic.twitter.com/bSxaMFaktH

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 1, 2019

The move is a test of European diplomacy after French, British and German officials had promised a strong diplomatic response if Iran fundamentally breached the deal.

The Europeans, who opposed last year's decision by Trump to abandon the agreement, had pleaded with Iran to keep within its parameters.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Britain wants to preserve the pact "because we don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons. But if Iran breaks that deal then we are out of it as well".

Iran has said it aims to keep the accord in place but cannot abide by its terms indefinitely, as long as sanctions imposed by Trump have deprived it of the benefits it was meant to receive in return for accepting curbs on its nuclear programme.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that "such action by the Islamic Republic of Iran would not help preserve the plan, nor secure the tangible economic benefits for the Iranian people." He added that it should be resolved using the deal's mechanism. 

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the European countries should "stand behind their commitments" and impose sanctions on Iran.

'Economic war'

Iran said in May it would speed up its production of enriched uranium in response to the Trump administration sharply tightening sanctions against it that month. Washington has now effectively ordered all countries to halt purchases of Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own, which Tehran calls "economic war" designed to starve its population.

In the two months since the sanctions were tightened, the confrontation has taken on a military dimension, with Washington blaming Tehran for attacks on oil tankers and Iran shooting down a US drone, prompting the aborted US air strikes. Iran denies any involvement in the suspected oil tanker attacks.

The nuclear deal imposes limits both on how much enriched uranium Iran can hold and on how pure its stocks can be, thresholds intended to lengthen the "breakout period" - the time Tehran would need to build a nuclear bomb if it sought one.

Zarif said Iran's next move would be to enrich uranium beyond the maximum 3.67 percent fissile purity allowed under the deal, a threshold Tehran has previously said it would cross on July 7.

Iran's moves so far appear to be a calculated test of the deal's enforcement mechanisms and the diplomatic response.

"This is not an irreversible step the Iranians have taken. Iran, with the remaining partners, can decide how they're going to proceed. There is a process in the JCPOA to try to cure breaches," said Wendy Sherman, former President Barack Obama's lead US negotiator on the deal and now director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. 

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"This does not in and of itself reduce the breakout time period, which is essential here," she said.

Enriching uranium to a low level of 3.6 percent fissile material is the first step in a process that could eventually be used to produce the more highly enriched uranium that can be used to build a nuclear warhead. Iran has repeatedly denied it has any plans to build such a weapon.

Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi, reporting from Tehran, said it was a "very fragile time" for the 2015 nuclear deal, adding the breaching of the enriched uranium limit signalled a "significant moment".

"It is the first time we see something that we can point to and say that is a clear reduction of cooperation with the 2015 nuclear deal," Basravi said.

The Europeans have said they want to help Iran boost its economy. But so far, European efforts to do so have failed, with Iran shunned on oil markets and major foreign companies abandoning plans to invest for fear of falling foul of US rules.

'A lot of noise, but not a lot of action'

David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector who consults with European officials on the Iran nuclear deal, told Reuters news agency that while the EU3 are angry that Iran has broken the 300kg ceiling, the violation is not serious enough for them to seek an immediate snapback of international sanctions.

They are watching, he said, for more serious breaches that could indicate that Iran is returning to the nuclear weapons development track that the CIA and the IAEA determined Tehran had abandoned in 2003. Iran denies it had such a programme.

"There will be a lot of noise, but not a lot of action on snapback," said Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a think-tank. 

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The confrontation has put the US in the position of demanding that the Europeans ensure Iranian compliance with an agreement that Washington itself has rejected. Trump has argued that the deal is too weak because some of its terms are not permanent, and because it does not cover non-nuclear issues such as Iran's ballistic missile programme and regional behaviour.

Washington has said sanctions are aimed at pushing Tehran back to the negotiating table. Iran said it cannot talk as long as Washington is ignoring the deal it signed.

Israel, which considers the Iranian nuclear programme an existential threat, has backed Trump's hard line, as have US allies, including several Gulf states, which consider Iran a foe and benefit from having its oil kept off markets.

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2019-07-02 06:02:00Z
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Iran says it has breached uranium stockpile limit under nuclear deal - AOL

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran acknowledged Monday it had broken the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by the 2015 nuclear deal, marking its first major departure from the unraveling agreement a year after the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the accord.

Iran had been expected for days to acknowledge it broke the limit after earlier warning it would do so. It held off on publicly making an announcement as European leaders met Friday in Vienna to discuss ways to save the accord. Iran has threatened to increase its enrichment of uranium closer to weapons-grade levels by July 7.

The announcement comes as tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S. In recent weeks, the wider Persian Gulf has seen Iran shoot down a U.S. military surveillance drone, mysterious attacks on oil tankers and Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen launching bomb-laden drones into Saudi Arabia.

RELATED: Trump pulls U.S. from Iran nuclear deal

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Trump pulls US from Iran nuclear deal

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US President Donald Trump signs a document reinstating sanctions against Iran after announcing the US withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear deal, in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement during a statement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

US President Donald Trump signs a document reinstating sanctions against Iran after announcing the US withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear deal, in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement during a statement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts to a question from the media after announcing his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement during a statement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intent to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 08: U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a memorandum that re-instates sanctions on Iran after he announced his decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Room at the White House May 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. After two and a half years of negotiations, Iran agreed in 2015 to end its nuclear program in exchange for Western countries, including the United States, lifting decades of economic sanctions. Since then international inspectors have not found any violations of the terms by Iran. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump announces his decision on the Iran nuclear deal in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as making the uranium announcement. IRNA reported that Zarif, answering a reporter's question whether Iran had broken the limit, said: "Yes."

"If Europeans do what they have to do, our measures are reversible," Zarif said, according to IRNA.

Zarif did not say how much low-enriched uranium had on hand, IRNA said.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed Iran had broken through the limit. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told the agency's board of governors that it had verified the development.

Breaking the stockpile limit by itself doesn't radically change the one year experts say Iran would need to have enough material for an atomic bomb, if to choose to pursue one. Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, despite Western fears about it.

But by coupling an increasing stockpile with higher enrichment, it begins to close that one-year window and hamper any diplomatic efforts at saving the accord.

Under terms of the nuclear deal, Iran agreed to have less than 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of uranium enriched to a maximum of 3.67%. Previously, Iran enriched as high as 20%, which is a short technical step away from reaching weapons-grade levels. It also held up to 10,000 kilograms (22,046 pounds) of the higher-enriched uranium.

At the time of the 2015 deal, which was agreed to by Iran, the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain, experts believed Iran needed anywhere from several weeks to three months to have enough material for a bomb.

Zarif was quoted as also saying that the country remained on track to raise its enrichment if Europe did not take any additional steps toward saving the accord.

"The next step is about the 3.67% limitation, which we will implement too," he warned.

___

Associated Press writer Kiyoko Metzler in Vienna contributed.

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2019-07-01 14:45:54Z
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Hundreds of Hong Kong protesters storm government building over China extradition bill - CNN

Protesters are vandalizing the heart of the Hong Kong's government, tearing portraits off the walls and spraying painting slogans on the walls and furniture.

In the main lobby of the Legislative Council, demonstrators have written on the wall: "HK Gov f**king disgrace" in English.

Underneath, in Cantonese it says: "Release the martyrs."

Meanwhile, other protesters are tearing the building's furniture apart, destroying computers and ripping down displays.

Never in the recent history of Hong Kong protests have demonstrators been so actively destructive or angry.

CNN/James Griffiths

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2019-07-01 14:44:00Z
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