“I am worried about increasing tensions over the Iranian nuclear issue,” Mr. Amano, a former Japanese diplomat, said during a speech to the agency’s board of governors. American sanctions may actually speed the moment at which Iran is in violation of the agreement’s terms. Until now, Iran has shipped most of the low-enriched uranium it produces out of the country, swapping it for natural uranium. And by producing uranium faster than it has in years, Iran is essentially speeding toward that day. Taken together, that combination could easily create a crisis of the kind that brought the United States, Iran and Israel to the brink of military conflict many times before the negotiation of the nuclear deal.

Source: International New York Times June 10, 2019 22:41 UTC