Iran has stopped a months-long slowdown in enriching uranium to the 60% purity needed to produce nuclear weapons.
Source: Reuters with reference to the IAEA statement
Details: As the newspaper notes, diplomats believe the slowdown, which began in June, was the result of secret negotiations between the United States and Iran that led to the release of American citizens held in Iran earlier this year.
Iran already has enough uranium enriched to 60%, subject to further enrichment, to create three nuclear bombs, according to the IAEA’s theoretical definition, and even more at lower enrichment levels. However, Iran denies that it is seeking to create nuclear weapons.
Iran “increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing previous production cuts from mid-2023,” the IAEA said in a statement.
Iran is enriching uranium to 60%, close to the roughly 90% needed for weapons production, at its pilot fuel enrichment plant at the Natanz complex and at the Fordow plant.
According to the IAEA, before the slowdown, these plants were enriching uranium to 60% at a rate of about 3 kg per month.
“The Agency confirms that the rate at which Iran has been producing uranium enriched to 60% U-235 at these two sites combined has increased to approximately 9 kg per month since late November 2023,” the report said.
According to the IAEA’s theoretical definition, about 42 kg of uranium enriched to 60% is an amount at which the creation of a nuclear bomb cannot be ruled out.
IAEA inspectors first noticed a change in production at Fordow on Nov. 25, after which Iran said the change occurred on Nov. 22 and that production rates there were returning to pre-slowdown levels, the report said.
Inspectors observed an increase in production levels at Natanz on November 27, the report added. The IAEA then verified production levels at Natanz on December 19 and at Fordow on December 24.
Let us remind you: Iranian authorities have repeatedly stated that the country’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.
At the same time, that Iran secretly receives Western technologies have been known for a long time.
For example, components from more than 30 European and American companies were found in the Iranian Shahed-136 drones – most of the parts were from the United States.
2023-12-26 23:54:21
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