Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the General Debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 25, 2019. Rouhani on Wednesday ruled out negotiations with the United States unless the latter lifts sanctions on his country first. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an underground plant south of Tehran in its latest step back from a troubled 2015 agreement with major powers.

The suspension of all enrichment at the Fordow plant in the mountains near the Shiite holy city of Qom was one of the restrictions on its nuclear activities that Iran accepted in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

But Washington's abandonment of the deal in May last year followed by its reimposition of crippling sanctions prompted Iran to begin a phased suspension of its own commitments in May this year.

Rouhani recalled that ­under the terms of the agreement Iran had retained more than 1,000 centrifuges at the plant which had been running empty since it went into effect.

"Starting from tomorrow [Wednesday], we will begin injecting [uranium hexafluoride] gas at Fordo," Rouhani said in a speech broadcast by state television.

His announcement came a day after tensions flared anew on the 40th anniversary of the US embassy siege and hostage crisis, with thousands in Tehran taking to the streets and Washington imposing fresh sanctions.

Iran said the resumption of enrichment at Fordow would be carried out transparently and witnessed by inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But Russia, which has close ties with Iran, expressed concern about the latest move.

"We are monitoring the development of the situation with concern," Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We support the preservation of this deal."

The move is the fourth announced by Iran since it began responding to Washington's abandonment of its commitments.

Iran has repeatedly warned the remaining parties to the deal - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - that the agreement can only be rescued if they help it circumvent US sanctions.

European governments have strived to come up with a mechanism that would allow foreign firms to continue to do business with Iran without incurring US penalties.

But to Iran's mounting frustration, their efforts have so far failed to have any significant impact.

Rouhani stressed that Iran remained committed to efforts to save the 2015 agreement despite its phased suspension of some of its commitments.

"The fourth phase, like the three previous ones, is reversible," he said. "We are committed to all the behind-the-scenes negotiations we have with some countries for a solution.

"Over the next two months, we will negotiate more."