Iran has transferred over most of its enriched uranium to Russia, according to a Russian diplomat who spoke to the Associated Press anonymously. The removal appears to be in keeping with the White House’s nuclear agreement.
Under the July 14 deal, Iran must ship out all except 300 kilograms of the close to nine tons of low-enriched uranium it has stockpiled. Low-enriched uranium is suited to power generation but can be further enriched to arm nuclear warheads.
While this comes as good news, Iran has given the United States plenty of reason to doubt its long term compliance with the nuclear deal. For starters, the nation’s human rights abuses continue as four Americans remain unfairly detained as hostages, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian. Iran also released five top Al Qaeda operatives earlier this year and violated international law by test firing ballistic missiles.
There’s a reason Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the nuclear agreement a ‘very bad deal’ and has chastised his United Nations partners for letting it proceed unchallenged.