{"id":55818,"date":"2019-09-08T19:54:02","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T19:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/08\/irans-nuclear-program-takes-another-step-away-from-accord-as-atomic-deal-unravels\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:43:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:43:54","slug":"irans-nuclear-program-takes-another-step-away-from-accord-as-atomic-deal-unravels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/09\/08\/irans-nuclear-program-takes-another-step-away-from-accord-as-atomic-deal-unravels\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s nuclear program takes another step away from accord as atomic deal unravels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates \u2014 Iran announced Saturday it had begun using advanced centrifuges<\/a> in violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision by Iran marks what it calls its “third step” away from the accord, which saw Iran agree to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal began to unravel over a year ago with President Donald Trump unilaterally pulling America from the accord. In the time since, regional tensions have risen dramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s where Iran’s unraveling nuclear deal now stands, as well as its ramping-up atomic program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE NUCLEAR DEAL<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran struck the nuclear deal in 2015 with the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China. The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, grew out of secret talks President Barack Obama’s administration held with Iran after President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, took office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium<\/a> under the watch of U.N. inspectors in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions<\/a>. International businesses rushed to do deals with Iran, most notably with billion-dollar sales by Airbus and Boeing Co.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump, who campaigned on a promise of tearing up the deal because it didn’t address Iran’s ballistic missile program or its involvement in regional conflicts, withdrew America from the accord in May 2018. That halted promised international business deals and dealt a heavy blow to Iran’s already ailing economy. In the time since, the Trump administration has said any country that imports Iranian crude will face U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In this Feb. 3, 2007, file photo, an Iranian technician works at the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan, Iran, 255 miles (410 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran. (Vahid Salemi\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IRAN’S NUCLEAR FACILITIES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natanz, in Iran’s central Isfahan province, hosts the country’s main uranium enrichment facility, located underground. Iran has one operating nuclear power plant in Bushehr, which it opened with Russia’s help in 2011. Under the accord, Iran reconfigured a heavy-water reactor so it couldn’t produce plutonium and agreed to convert its Fordo enrichment site \u2014 dug deep into a mountainside \u2014 into a research center. Iran now says it may stop the heavy-water reactor reconfiguration. Tehran also operates an over 50-year-old research reactor in Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\t