As Iran continues to ramp up its most contested nuclear work in violation of the landmark nuclear accord, Republican hawks in Congress are preparing a final push to destroy the deal and reimpose a set of biting sanctions that the Trump administration has balked on implementing in recent months, according to multiple officials familiar with the effort.
International nuclear inspectors overseeing Iran’s nuclear work recently disclosed the Islamic Republic has kept true to its threats of restarting key portions of its nuclear program that could be used to build a weapon. This includes blowing past caps on the amount of enriched uranium—the key component in a bomb—Iran can store in country, as well as heavy water, a plutonium byproduct that also could fuel a weapon.
Iran also has breached provisions of the nuclear accord that were meant to limit the installation of advanced centrifuges, a mechanical device that can speedily enrich uranium to levels needed for a bomb.
Iranian officials have maintained these moves are part of an effort to force European countries still party to the deal to help Tehran skirt U.S. economic sanctions, which have shattered the Islamic Republic’s economy.
With Iran amping up its cash demands in what U.S. officials see as an international blackmail campaign, GOP hawks in Congress see an opportunity to convince the Trump administration to follow through on promises to nix a set of sanctions waivers that have enabled Iran to legally continue secretive nuclear work at a range of sites, including one that previously housed the country’s weapons program. – READ MORE