“Scientists installed the centrifuges on time and implemented this part of the law through intensified efforts and redoubled efforts to complete the work even during the Nowruz holiday,” Zonnour said.

He added, “According to this [parliamnet] law, one thousand IR2M centrifuges had to be installed by the end of the year 1399,” noting that “the Iranian nuclear scientists succeeded in completing the project of installing one thousand IR2M centrifuges.” He called the achievement “a very important and strategic step.”

According to the senior MP, “There were 19,000 installed and un-installed centrifuges in Natanz, which were reduced to 5,100 centrifuges in accordance with the JCPOA obligations.”

He said that “the SWU (Seperative Work Units) related to these IR1 centrifuges is between 800 grams to one kilogram per year, that is, if a thousand IR2M centrifuges operate in Natanz [nuclear site], at the end of the year [of 1400], each centrifuge can enrich 800 grams or 1,200 grams of uranium.”

“If each centrifuge enriches an average of one kg uranium, at the end of the year, 1,000 IR1 centrifuges will produce 1,000 kilograms of enriched uranium,” according to Zonnour.

He added that “The IR2Ms that are installed, first of all, their technology is completely Iranian and we have no dependence on foreign countries in this field, and SWU of these IR2M centrifuges are between 5 and 6. This means that IR2M centrifuges have more than 5 times the capacity of our IR1s operating in Natanz. In other words, this one thousand IR2M machines that have been installed can enrich uranium as much as the entire Natanz site, which operates according to the JCPOA.”

He said, “These one thousand centrifuges have been designed and installed in 6 cascades, to 4 centrifuges of which uranium hexafluoride gas have been injected, and industrial enrichment has begun.”

The head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian parliament also said that another cascade is about to be launched, centrifuges of which have been installed and gas is about to be injected into,”

He also added “Another cascade out of 6 IR2M centrifuge cascades is in a vacuum. In the next two days, its work will be completed and it will join the cascades that have started enrichment.”

The senior lawmaker added, “This measure will increase the uranium enrichment capacity in the country.”

Zonnour also declared “the IR4 cascade will be operated soon and is about to be launched, which is an important step. The capacity of this cascade is similar to that of IR2Ms and it has a production capacity of 5 to 6 SWUs.”

He said: “Scientists have also installed the IR6 centrifuges. This important change is more important than the previous two measures because the capacity of IR6 is about 10 SWUs and it has 10 times the enrichment capacity of existing IR1 centrifuges.”

The chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the parliament emphasized, “These measures were legal obligations [in according to the parliament’s bill].”

He further stressed that “It is planned to install IR6 centrifuges according to the schedule, the first cascade of which has been installed and this is the most important step in the development of the nuclear industry.”

He concluded “Iran has taken three important steps to reduce its JCPOA obligations”, warning that time is running out for the US and Europeans.

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He pointed to the possible scenario of fourth step of Iran’s cutting of its JCPOA commitments and added, Islamic Republic of Iran should reconsider its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and reduce cooperation with it.

European countries have no determination to fulfill their commitments within the framework of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he said, adding, “European countries involved in Iran’s nuclear talks have to pay whatever they want to do in this field but the most important issue is this that they do not want to pay the cost.”

He further noted that Islamic Republic of Iran should take the third step of cutting its commitments firmly.

The decision to scale down commitments to the JCPOA came a  year after the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and the European sides’ lack of practical measures to safeguard Iran’s economic interests in the face of US sanctions.

Tehran says its countermeasures fit within its rights under paragraphs 26 and 36 of the nuclear deal, and that it will reverse the measures once its demands are met.

In the first step last May, Iran reduced some of its commitments under the JCPOA, and gave a two-month window of opportunity to the European signatories to the JCPOA to fulfil their commitments.

The second step was taken in July and Iran further reduced its commitments to the nuclear deal, and gave another two-month window of opportunity to the Europeans to honor what they had promised as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

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“We could install a new generation of centrifuges, that is IR6 and IR8…or we could increase the stockpile of our enriched uranium…In the third step, we must restore the Arak heavy water reactor to its previous design,” he said.

Asked whether Iran has already defined its measures for the fourth or fifth step of scaling down JCPOA commitments, Zonnour said “I personally believe that the government should have taken all necessary measures in one step instead of giving a two-month deadline to the other side for each step. I can imagine a fifth and sixth step with Rouhani’s administration.”

On the anniversary of US’ unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and lack of practical measures from the European signatories to the agreement, Tehran began rowing back on its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA.

Iran says its reciprocal measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to safeguard Iran’s economic interests in the face of unilateral US sanctions which were imposed when President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.

As a first step Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA. In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA-limit of 3.76 percent.

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“Mr Zarif will brief lawmakers about the negotiations which were held and also his trip to Europe,” the senior MP added, but he did not specify the date of the session.

Foreign Minister Zarif went on a European tour last week, visiting Finland, Sweden, Norway. He held high-level talks with the European countries’ senior officials on a host of bilateral as well as international issues. Zarif also paid two visits to France last week upon the invitation of his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, one of which came concurrently with the G7 summit in Biarritz. The talks have been reportedly focused on ways to salvage the nuclear deal which is in jeopardy since the United States’ unilateral withdrawal in May 2018, as well as de-escalating tensions in the region.

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During the meeting, Zonnour stressed that the inefficiency of international organizations and the weakness of certain countries have allowed the US to make decisions for them.

“Independent countries, particularly the Muslim ones, need to unite and stop the US from interfering in their decisions and relations with other countries,” he stressed.

Zonnour went on to add that despite the US sanctions, Iran has managed to become self-sufficient in developing its own military equipment, such as submarines, missiles, tanks, helicopters and frigates.

He then voiced Iran’s readiness to expand cooperation with Indonesia in the sectors of energy, technical-engineering services, as well as security-defense and military.

The Indonesian parliamentary official, for his part, voiced regret over the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, adding “Indonesia has always supported this international agreement, because it shows Iran’s compliance with it.”

“We hope that despite the US sanctions, the amicable ties between Iran and Indonesia will develop,” he added.

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Noting the US’ withdrawal from the JCPOA, he said “Europe and the US are cut from the same cloth, and are only playing the good cop/bad cop game with us. Europe is only buying time for the US and has done nothing to preserve the nuclear deal.”

Zonnour then described INSTEX as a “bucket with no water” whose output would be of no use to Iran, adding “the EU’s mechanism is said to only cover food and medicine, while INSTEX is supposed to facilitate Iran’s economic ties with all countries in the world.”

“In fact, our banking and monetary ties must be facilitated and we must be able to export our oil to all countries. But INSTEX does not cover our banking transactions and oil revenues and so, it is of no use to us,” he added.

“The mechanism is useful as long as it meets all of our needs; otherwise, we will take the third step in reducing our commitments to the JCPOA much firmer than before,” the chairman stressed.

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Highlighting Iran’s presence in Indian Ocean, Oman Sea and the Persian Gulf, Zonnour added that “at the present time, a number of British commercial ships are wandering in the Oman Sea and the Indian Ocean, and do not dare to enter the Persian Gulf.”

“Iranians seek peace. We provide the security of the region. The Persian Gulf oil region would be unsettled without the Islamic republic,” he underlined.

The British overseas territory Gibraltar seized a supertanker on July 4, claiming that the move was done on suspicion of carrying crude oil to Syria in violation of European Union (EU) sanctions against the Arab country.

On July 10, Iranian Foreign Ministry named UK’s seizure of Iranian-operated super tanker in Gibraltar as violation of their commitments to JCPOA.

Meanwhile, Iran has condemned the move as “piracy”, with FM Zarif saying that Iran is not subject to any European oil embargo and EU is against extraterritoriality.

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“The US has also banned the export of Iran’s heavy water, which has also caused an increase in our heavy water reserves,” he added.

Zonnour also maintained that Iran would increase the production of enriched uranium as much as it serves its nuclear needs for peaceful purposes.

“Our officials have repeatedly stated that Iran would reconsider its (JCPOA) decisions when the US returns to the nuclear deal and the Europeans live up to their commitments. JCPOA is not supposed to be a one-sided agreement; rather, all parties have to comply with their commitments,” he stressed.

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We will not agree to the mechanism “if it aims to put all of Iran’s revenues into one place without giving us the freedom to make purchases of our own choice.”

He stressed that the management of the country’s oil revenues must be totally in Iran’s hands, adding “if they are planning to use INSTEX as a means to concentrate all of our oil revenues into this channel, this means that enemies are trying to control our financial resources and purchases.”

If Iran’s oil revenues are put into one place, this would give the US a chance to block Iran’s accounts under any pretext or try to take advantage of our resources, he warned.

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