Nuclear energy in Iran

Austria's foreign minister said on Feb. 19 that he will travel to Tehran this weekend amid efforts by European countries to keep alive Iran's nuclear agreement with world powers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu, stressed, at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council held in Brussels, the importance of the consistent and swifter implementation of the Mali Peace Agreement.

Iran will not withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, quoted by news agencies. According to him, the EU has no legal basis to trigger the dispute mechanism in Iran's nuclear deal .

Mousavi even accused the conserned European countries that they did not respect their part of the deal. He said the EU's claims were unfounded.

Iran is now enriching more uranium than Tehran did before it agreed to a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Jan. 16 in a televised speech.

"We are enriching more uranium before the deal was reached ... Pressure has increased on Iran but we continue to progress," Rouhani said.

The U.K., Germany, and France announced on Jan. 14 they would activate the dispute mechanism of the 2015 deal due to Tehran's continuous violations.

The decision of the European participants provokes "deep disappointment and concern," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Jan. 15 a proposal for a new "Trump deal" aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a "strange" offer and criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump for always breaking promises.

France, the United Kingdom and Germany have triggered the dispute settlement mechanism enshrined in the Iran nuclear program agreement.

This is the most decisive step for European participants in the deal since Tehran announced last that it was removing the restrictions on its uranium enrichment and production.

Tehran has warned Athens that if it allows the use of US military bases in Greece in a possible aggression against Iran it will be considered as a "hostile act" to which it will respond "in a clear and decisive manner."

Tehran is ready to negotiate on various aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action if Washington returns to the agreement. Iranian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, told TASS.

According to him, it is better for the United States to return to the plan and to the negotiations. In that case, Iran will be ready for discussions.

Iran withdraws from nuclear deal commitment and pledged to begin enriching uranium for its technical needs.

This comes amid a continuing escalation of tensions between Iran and the US following the death of Iran's supreme military commander, General Qasem Soleimani, in a US air strike in Baghdad.