Iran is making good on its threat and ramping up the capacity of its uranium enrichment facilities uranium, after last week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution against it, the agency itself announced, quoted by DPA, writes BTA.
Iran has activated additional high-performance centrifuges to enrich uranium, the IAEA informed its member states in a confidential report that was subsequently released to several media outlets. Iranian authorities have announced the installation of new centrifuges to increase production.
According to the report, around 350 new centrifuges have been installed in an underground facility in Fordo, some 30 km away. northeast of the Iranian city of Qom. According to the agency, another 350 are being prepared.
On June 5, the IAEA passed a resolution calling on Tehran to cooperate with agency inspectors to clarify its alleged secret nuclear activities in the past.
Germany, France and Britain have indirectly threatened to convene the UN Security Council if Iran does not provide answers.
For its part, the government of Iran threatened a “proportionate, effective and immediate response” of the resolution.
The US State Department reacted sharply to the latest Iranian measures described by the IAEA. Department spokesman Matthew Miller stressed that they “further undermine Iran's claims that its nuclear program is peaceful”. He added that the US would “respond appropriately” if Iran implements the announced steps.
Officially, Iran is not enriching uranium for nuclear weapons. However, it produces material with a purity close to that required for military purposes, which greatly exceeds that required for nuclear fuel or scientific purposes.
In 2015, Iran agreed to drastically limit its nuclear program in exchange for a commitment from Western countries to lift their sanctions against it. The following year, the new US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the agreement, as a result of which Iran resumed uranium enrichment.