Iran has resumed 20% uranium enrichment at an underground nuclear facility, the government said on Monday, breaching a 2015 nuclear pact with major powers and possibly complicating efforts by US President-elect Joe Biden to rejoin the deal.
The move is the latest Iranian contravention of the deal, which it started violating in 2019 in response to Washington's withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 and the reimposition of US sanctions that had been lifted under the accord.
"A few minutes ago, the process of producing 20% enriched uranium has started in Fordow enrichment complex," government spokesman Ali Rabeie told Iranian state media.
The step was one of many mentioned in a law passed by Iran's parliament last month in response to the killing of the country's top nuclear scientist, which Tehran has blamed on Israel. Such moves by Iran could hinder attempts by the incoming Biden administration to rejoin the deal.
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Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mikhail Ulyanov described Iran’s decision to increase uranium enrichment level up to 20% as predictable.
ReplyDeleteRejecting as breaking news, the announcement by Iranian administration on Monday that Tehran has officially started to enrich uranium to a purity level of 20 percent, Ulyanov described the move as “predictable in the light of the law passed by the Iranian Parliament”.
The Russian diplomat also highlighted that the main point of Iran’s move is that it “remains reversible” within possible normalization of the situation around key principles of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.