IAEA report: Iran accelerates production of uranium to weapon-grade 60% purity

The UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on August 17 said that Iran has accelerated the enrichment of weapons-grade Uranium. In a report to member states, the IAEA said that Iran was enriching uranium to 60% purity using a second cascade of centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility. The Vienna-based agency also informed that Iran produced 200 grams of metal-enriched uranium up to 20%.

Back in May, IAEA had said that Iran was using only one cascade to enrich uranium to 60% purity. It is worth noting that 90% purity of uranium is considered weapons-grade, although other technical steps are needed to create a deliverable nuclear bomb. Iran had also previously announced that it planned to start enriching uranium to 60% purity from 20% in response to an attack on the Natanz nuclear site that it blamed on Israel.

Now, Iran’s move is the latest of many in breaching the restrictions imposed by the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The agreement was to cap the purity up to which Tehran can refine uranium, and the number was set at 3.67%.

Following the IAEA report, Iran reiterated that its nuclear programme is peaceful and said that it informed the Vienna-based agency about its enrichment activities. It even added that its deviation from the 2015 deal would be reversed if the US returned to the accord and lifted sanctions.

"If the other parties return to their obligations under the nuclear accord and Washington fully and verifiably lifts its unilateral and illegal sanctions ... all of Iran's mitigation and countermeasures will be reversible," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by state media.

Raisi refuses to bow down to West 

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Iran has “no credible” need to produce uranium metal, which has direct relevance to nuclear weapons development. US President Joe Biden has also said that he wants to return to the deal. However, indirect talks in Vienna brokered by the Europeans to get both Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the accord, have stalled.

The European Union, on the other hand, said that new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was ready to resume talks, and meetings could take place in Vienna in September.

Raisi has vowed to pull all stops to resume the JCPOA deal but clarified that he won’t “bow” down to the western powers. In 2015, the P5+1 nations signed the JCPOA deal with Iran, which allowed Tehran to scale back its nuclear or uranium enrichment program in exchange for promises of economic relief.

However, three years later, as US and Iran's relations hit rock bottom, the Trump administration pulled out of the pact and imposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The embargo not only blocked Iran’s oil exports but also restricted the supply of essentials during the COVID pandemic.

(Image: AP)