Nuclear Iran
Nuclear IraniStock

Britain, France, and Germany accused Iran on Tuesday of amassing its high enriched uranium to "unprecedented levels" without "any credible civilian justification", AFP reported

The trio, collectively known as the E3, issued a statement prior to a UN Security Council meeting which focused on Tehran's nuclear activities, urging Iran to "reverse its nuclear escalation."

"Iran's stockpile of High Enriched Uranium has also reached unprecedented levels, again without any credible civilian justification. It gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons," the E3 stated, as quoted by AFP.

"Iran has ramped up its installation of advanced centrifuges, which is yet another damaging step in Iran's efforts to undermine the nuclear deal that they claim to support," they added.

Since 2018, when Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers during his first term as US President, Iran has taken many steps to scale back its compliance with the deal.

Last week, in its latest step to advance its nuclear program, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its intention to "significantly increase" its production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent."

Iran’s announcement came a week after it notified the UN nuclear watchdog of its plans to expand uranium enrichment capabilities by installing additional centrifuges at its Fordow and Natanz facilities and activating machines recently installed there.

Britain, France and Germany recently hinted at potentially invoking a mechanism from the 2015 nuclear deal that could allow for the reinstatement of previously lifted sanctions on Iran.

The diplomatic window for implementing such sanctions is set to close on October 18 of next year, when a pivotal UN resolution which established the 2015 deal expires.

Meanwhile, Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Iravani accused Western nations of failing to meet their obligations under the 2015 deal.

"The unfounded accusations made against Iran today by the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany cannot distort the facts on the ground, nor serve to obscure or justify their own failures in fulfilling their commitment on the JCPOA," he stated, using the official acronym for the 2015 agreement, which is called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"Therefore allegations regarding Iran's noncompliance are not only factually incorrect, but also rely on arbitrary and misleading interpretations of the JCPOA," added the Iranian envoy.