Iran increased between November and February by 40.5% its reserves of uranium enriched with a purity of up to 60%, a level close to that necessary to make atomic bombs, warned Tuesday the IAEAthe nuclear agency of the UN.
In a report issued in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) It specifies that the stocks of this material already reach 87.5 kilos, while uranium enriched up to 20% reaches 434.7 kilos, 12% more than in November.
On the other hand, the IAEA confirms that a sample taken in January at the Fordo underground facility (south of Tehran) returned particles of 83.7% enriched uranium, which Iran explains as “funintentional fluctuation”.
In order to make nuclear weapons, uranium enriched with a purity of between 80 and 90% is needed, although Iran claims that it enriches its uranium for medical applications.
In a letter sent to the IAEA on February 20, Iran ensures that uranium enriched above 80% “It could have happened during a transition period when launching the process (to enrich up to 60%) or when changing cylinders to feed the centrifuges (to enrich uranium).”
As the IAEA explains, “Discussions between the agency and Iran to clarify this matter continue.”
On the other hand, the inspectors specify in the document that during an unannounced visit in January to Fordo they realized that the Iranian technicians had interconnected some gas centrifuges in a different way than what was announced.
Iran then informed the agency that it had chosen in mid-January to operate in this new way.
According to the IAEA, not having previously informed the inspectors is “inconsistent” with Iran’s nuclear safeguards (controls) agreement.
Faced with this situation, the IAEA informed the Islamic Republic of its intention to increase the frequency of its inspections and verifications in Fordo.
Total stored enriched uranium, in various purities, has risen 2.4% to 3,760 kilos since November 2022, a level well above the 300 kilos allowed by the 2015 international agreement known as the JCPOA.
The inspectors stress once again that Iran’s decision to disconnect dozens of IAEA surveillance and verification cameras hampers its ability to give assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.
For this reason, surveillance and verification activities are “seriously affected”says the IAEA, which must verify compliance with Iran’s nuclear obligations under the JCPOA.
According to this agreement, which has remained in limbo for several years, after the withdrawal of the treaty by the United States, Iran must limit its nuclear program in exchange for incentives and economic relief, mainly the lifting of international sanctions, which damage its economy. .
The countries that signed the agreement in 2015 (the United States, China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Iran) have been trying to restore the agreement since the arrival of the Democrat Joe Biden to the presidency of the United States in January 2021, but negotiations have been stalled for months.
Against the background of the war in Ukraine and Iran’s military support for Russia, the re-establishment of the JCPOA is in doubt.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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