Iran vows to increase uranium enrichment after nuclear site 'incident'

Iran on Tuesday warned that it would ramp up the uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity after accusing Israel of sabotaging its atomic facility installation. The Islamic Republic informed the international nuclear watchdog that it will ramp up the nuclear activity against the limits prescribed in the 2015 JCPOA accord.  Iran's deputy foreign minister and a top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi told state TV that Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) of its decision to surging the fissile purity of enriching the uranium to 90 percent, which is an approximate weapons-grade quantification needed to manufacture bombs. Currently, Iran’s uranium enrichment stands at 20 percent purity levels.

The announcement was condemned by the Joe Biden administration, who had distanced itself from the Natanz facility attack saying that the United States had no role in it. Earlier on April 13, the US condemned Iran’s decision, calling it as ‘provocative.’ "We are certainly concerned about these provocative announcements," White House press secretary, Jen Psaki told a news briefing. She said that Iran’s intention "calls into question Iran's seriousness with regard to the nuclear talks and underscores the imperative of returning to mutual compliance with the JCPOA,” adding that the United States takes Iran’s announcement “very seriously”. Furthermore, she reiterated that the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany P5+1 would most likely be rejecting that decision. Although, Psaki stressed that the United States remains committed to negotiations with Tehran despite the Islamic Republic’s provocative statements. 

[Credit: Iranian Presidency Office via AP]

Iran called atomic incident 'nuclear terrorism'

Tensions between Iran and its arch-foe Israel on Sunday escalated after an 'electrical incident' at Iran’s main atomic site Natanz in Isfahan Province, which Iran described as an act of “nuclear terrorism.” The head of Iran Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Akbar Salehi told state TV that the electrical grid compromise was “caused by those who intended to prevent our nuclear industry’s development”. Iranian lawmaker called the outage a probable “sabotage” as it damaged sensitive centrifuges and halted uranium enrichment at the atomic site in the early hours of Sunday. It further vowed revenge against the perpetrator nation "at a time of its choosing”. Intelligence sources told local Hebrew agencies on condition of anonymity that Israel’s intelligence service Mossad was behind what it termed as “cyberattack” that shut down entire sections at Iran’s atomic site. 

(Image Credit: AP)