The U.S. is calling on "members of the international community" to address Iran's nuclear escalation.
Iran stepped further away from its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal this week. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday the escalation reflects "the regime's intentions all along: to extort the international community into accepting its violence and terror while it undermines the sovereignty of its neighbors."
Pompeo also said the recent developments raise concerns that Iran is positioning itself to have the option of rapid nuclear breakout. He urged other countries to "imagine how Iran would behave with a nuclear weapon" and asserted that the U.S. will "never allow this to happen."
Iran announced several developments this week that violate the nuclear agreement. On Monday, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said the country is now operating dozens of advanced centrifuges. Those advanced centrifuges let Iran reportedly produce uranium 10 times faster than what's allowed under the nuclear agreement. Additionally, the nuclear chief said Iran has a prototype in the works for a centrifuge that'll produce uranium even faster.
And early Thursday, Iran started feeding uranium gas into those centrifuges.
The Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear pact last year. Since then, the U.S. has gradually reimposed sanctions on Iran, which hit the country's economy hard.
European nations are still in the deal, but Iran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement in May. It's vowed to continue incremental steps away from the deal until it gets better terms to offset U.S. sanctions.
Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.
