Khamenei aide says Iran is prepared to enrich uranium unless Europe provides new terms
Iran is ready to enrich its uranium beyond the limits of the 2015 nuclear pact, unless European leaders offer Tehran more concessions.
On Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, a top aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a video message that the Islamic Republic is prepared to breach the pact after Iran bolstered its stockpile of uranium last week. The message comes just ahead of a Sunday deadline Iran set for European countries to offer new terms in light of recently-imposed U.S. sanctions. If Europe does go along with the sanctions, Velayati said, "every component of the establishment" has agreed to boost uranium enrichment levels, citing the fact that the U.S. failed to hold up its end of the bargain when Washington left the agreement last year.
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In related news, Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, a member of the Assembly of Experts, a powerful religious body in Iran, said on Saturday that the United Kingdom "should be scared" of Iran's retaliatory measures after the seizure of an Iranian supertanker in Gibraltar by the British navy on Thursday. "We have shown that we will never remain silent over bullying," he said.
A British-flagged oil tanker came to a halt in the Persian Gulf, but Iran quickly denied reports that it had seized the ship in retaliation. Hours later, a U.K. Maritime Trade Operations official told Reuters that the tanker is "safe and well," further dispelling any suspicion.
