The Trump administration, in a major reversal of Obama administration policy, is seeking to shutter every Iranian nuclear enrichment site, including its heavy water reactors, which could provide Iran with a second, plutonium-based pathway to a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the policy shift.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his first major policy address, called on Iran to shutdown its heavy water nuclear power plants, which were allowed by the Obama administration under the landmark nuclear agreement and laid the groundwork for Tehran and Russia to ink multi-billion dollar deals to build new nuclear reactors throughout the country, construction that is already underway.
Pompeo’s demand is being met with support within the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill. Opponents of the nuclear agreement told the Washington Free Beacon it jibes with ongoing efforts by Congress to strangle Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.
Iran’s nuclear reactors have been a tension point since the nuclear deal was put in place due to the Islamic Republic’s production of heavy water—a nuclear enriched byproduct—beyond the amounts allowable under the agreement. In order to ensure Iran was not caught breaching restrictions on heavy water under the deal, the Obama administration used taxpayer money to purchase Iran’s excess heavy water, a policy that was immediately reversed by the Trump administration. – READ MORE
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