“We have not done anything new, and our activities are within the rules,” said Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s top nuclear official. – We enriched uranium to 60%. level, we didn’t change anything and we didn’t create any new capabilities.”
On Tuesday, the IAEA released a report that said Iran had “increased its production of enriched uranium, reversing an earlier cut in production from mid-2023.”
Since the end of November, Iran has increased to 60 percent. enriched uranium production to regarding 9 kg per month, the United Nations energy watchdog said.
This is more than regarding 3 kg of enriched uranium per month, produced since June. Iran produced 9 kg per month in the first half of this year.
A nuclear weapon requires even more, regarding 90 percent. enrichment level.
Iran has consistently denied any ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon and insists that its activities are entirely peaceful.
Iran appeared to have slowed uranium enrichment while informal talks continued with the United States to revive the nuclear deal.
But in recent months, the two countries have been at loggerheads, with each accusing the other of escalating the war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas.
Iran stopped abiding by restrictions on its nuclear activities set out in the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, a year following then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran.
According to a confidential IAEA report seen by AFP last month, it has since increased its stockpile of enriched uranium by 22 times the amount allowed under the deal.
Mr Eslami criticized what he called a “media frenzy” over the latest IAEA report, saying it was aimed at diverting public attention from the war in Gaza.
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2024-07-20 15:18:54
