Iran Ends Nuclear Deal Commitment After US Airstrikes That Killed Its Army General Soleimani

After the top Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani was killed in the US airstrike, Iran has decided to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal which limited the Islamic nation from uranium enrichment on Sunday, January 5.

Qassem Soleimani was the head of Iran’s elite Quds military force and had a crucial role in eliminating the Islamic State in Syria.

The announcement came after Iran’s National Security Council called an emergency meeting on Sunday, in the aftermath of the US airstrikes at Baghdad airport in the wee hours of January 3.

A statement broadcast on state TV said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will end its final limitations in the nuclear deal, meaning the limitation in the number of centrifuges. Therefore Iran’s nuclear program will have no limitations in production including enrichment capacity and percentage and number of enriched uranium and research and expansion.”

However, the statement added that the steps could be reversed if Washington lifted its sanction on Tehran. Tehran will also continue to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog.

The nuclear deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) 2015, curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a lifting of many international sanctions. The 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran was earlier abandoned by the Trump administration in May 2018, leading to a sharp decline in US-Iran relations. Following this, Iran had several times violated limits of the deal including its stock of enriched uranium, where it enriches uranium and the purity to which it enriches uranium.

Further aggravating the tension between the two countries, US President Donald Trump on Sunday, threatened to hit Iran ‘harder.’

“They attacked us, & we hit back. If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before!” Trump said in a tweet.

They attacked us, & we hit back. If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before! https://t.co/qI5RfWsSCH

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020

He further added that the US will not hesitate to use their newly-acquired military equipment on Iran.

“The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way…and without hesitation!” he said.

The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way…and without hesitation!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020

Meanwhile, the ‘E3’ group of countries – France, Britain, and Germany – called on Iran to avoid any violent action.

Also Read: Top Iranian Army Commander Killed In US Airstrikes Ordered By President Donald Trump