2023-12-26 15:09:57
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), production of highly enriched uranium has been ramped up in Iran. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi announced this to the organization’s member countries on Tuesday. A spokesman said in Vienna that Iran already had enough uranium with a purity of 60 percent to be able to produce three nuclear bombs in the event of further enrichment to 90 percent. Tehran, however, emphasizes that it is not seeking nuclear weapons.
The enrichment information was verified during visits on December 19th and 24th. An atomic bomb requires enrichment to at least 80 percent. Production had previously been scaled back in mid-2023, it said. Grossi said Iran communicated its production plans at the end of November. It’s regarding the Natans and Fordow production facilities. Since the end of November, around nine kilograms of uranium enriched to a purity of up to 60 percent have been produced there – following around three kilograms per month in the previous months.
In 2015, the government in Tehran committed itself to restricting the enrichment of uranium and allowing IAEA controls in an international nuclear agreement. This was intended to prevent the construction of nuclear weapons. In return, economic sanctions once morest Iran were lifted. Since the US under then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact in 2018, Tehran has gradually broken its commitments and, among other things, started producing highly enriched uranium.
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