Iran said it would pull out of parts of an international nuclear deal, announcing it would resume the enrichment of uranium previously prohibited by the Obama-era agreement that President Trump withdrew from.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he would take the action unless other parties to the deal agreed to start selling Iranian oil despite the threat of U.S. sanctions within 60 days, according to multiple reports.
Rouhani made the vow in a televised address to Iran’s citizens.
{mosads}“If the five countries came to the negotiating table and we reached an agreement, and if they could protect our interests in the oil and banking sectors, we will go back to square one,” Rouhani reportedly said.
“The Iranian people and the world should know that today is not the end of the [Iran deal],” he said, according to Reuters. “These are actions in line with the [agreement].”
The step comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a surprise trip to Iraq on Tuesday for discussions with that country about Iran.
Rouhani reportedly referred to his actions as “surgery” that he hoped would repair damage done to the nuclear agreement by the U.S.’s withdrawal last year.
“We felt that the nuclear deal needs a surgery and the painkiller pills of the last year have been ineffective,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “This surgery is for saving the deal, not destroying it.”
French authorities called on Iran to continue honoring the agreement, calling a final collapse of the deal the worst-case scenario.
“Today nothing would be worse than Iran, itself, leaving this agreement,” French defense chief Florence Parly told a local news station, according to Reuters.
Russia, meanwhile, laid the blame for Iran’s announcement squarely at Washington’s feet, knocking Trump for “unthought-out steps” resulting from his decision to abandon the agreement.
“Now we are seeing those consequences,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reportedly added.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Iran’s statements or Russia’s accusations.
Trump has repeatedly lambasted the Iran nuclear deal, arguing it was poorly negotiated.