Obama Administration Loosens Nuclear Deal After Iran Violates It

The Obama administration is allowing Iran to exceed limits set forth in last summer's nuclear deal that pertain to the country's ability to stockpile nuclear-related material.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a recent report that Iran violated the nuclear deal by exceeding its limit for heavy water, a material used in the production of weapons-grade plutonium. The State Department would not call the incident a "formal violation" Wednesday, and told reporters Thursday that it did not see the 130-metric-ton threshold laid out in the nuclear deal as a "hard, certain figure."

"If you look at the wording within the [nuclear deal], it actually says that Iran's needs, consistent with the parameters … are estimated to be 130 metric tons." State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. "That's not a hard certain figure."

Toner added that penalizing Iran for violations of the nuclear deal is "something that has to be calibrated" and "looked at very closely."

"If we see a trend line here here, or if we see bigger infractions, or infractions elsewhere that are more serious, that's always an assessment that the IAEA as well as the other [nuclear deal] partners are going to have to make," he said.