Iran has stopped dismantling centrifuges in two uranium enrichment plants, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday, days after conservative lawmakers complained to President Hassan Rouhani that the process was too rushed. Last week, Iran announced it had begun shutting down inactive centrifuges at the Natanz and Fordo plants under the terms of the deal struck with world powers in July that limits its nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions. Iran's hard-liners continue to resist and undermine the deal, which they see as a capitulation to the West. "The [dismantling] process stopped with a warning," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the National Security Council, was quoted as saying by the ISNA student news agency. Shamkhani did not specify what he meant by "warning," but the head of the Iranian parliament's nuclear deal commission, Alireza Zakani, told Mehr news agency that the dismantling had stopped in Fordo because of the lawmakers' letter to Rouhani. Zakani, who was not one of the signatories of the letter, did not mention activities at Natanz. Only decommissioned centrifuges, of which there were about 10,000 at Natanz and Fordo, were being dismantled to begin with, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has said. A group of 20 hard-line parliamentarians wrote to the president last week complaining that the deactivation of centrifuges contradicted the directives of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei has said that the deal should only be implemented once allegations of past military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program had been settled. The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to announce its conclusions on the past military dimensions by Dec. 15.
Report: Iran has stopped dismantling nuclear centrifuges
Halt follows letter by group of 20 hard-line Iranian lawmakers to President Hassan Rouhani complaining that the dismantling process was too rushed and contradicted orders of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • Only decommissioned centrifuges were being dismantled.
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