DUBAI, UAE – Iran began enriching uranium on Friday to its highest purity, which borders Tehran close to arms levels, trying to pressure Vienna negotiators over negotiations to restore its nuclear deal with world powers after an attack on its main site of enrichment.
A senior official said that just a few grams per hour of uranium gas would be enriched with up to 60% purity – three times the level it once did, but at a much lower amount than the Islamic Republic could produce. . Iran is also enriching itself with an above-ground installation at its Natanz nuclear site already visited by international inspectors, not deep in its underground halls reinforced to withstand airstrikes.
The limited purpose of the new enrichment gives Iran a way to decline rapidly if it chooses, experts say, but time is running out. An Iranian presidential election is looming on the horizon as Tehran already threatens to limit international inspections. Israel, suspected of sabotaging Natanz on Sunday, could also act again amid a long-running war between the two rivals in the Middle East.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, announced the greater enrichment on Twitter.
“Iran’s young and faithful scientists have managed to obtain a 60% enriched uranium product,” Qalibaf said. “I congratulate the brave nation of Islamic Iran for this success. The willpower of the Iranian nation is miraculous and can defuse any conspiracy. “
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, the country’s civilian nuclear arm, later acknowledged the move to 60%. Ali Akbar Salehi told Iranian state television that centrifuges now produce 9 grams per hour, but that will drop to 5 grams per hour in the coming days.
“Any level of enrichment we want is within our reach right now and we can do it anytime we want,” Salehi said.
It was unclear why the first announcement came from Qalibaf, a former tough leader in the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard already named as a potential presidential candidate in Iran’s upcoming June elections..
While 60% is higher than any level, Iran has enriched uranium previously, it is still lower than 90% arms levels. Iran has enriched itself by up to 20% – and this was a short technical step to the level of weapons. The agreement limited Iran’s enrichment to 3.67%.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iran’s nuclear program, has not responded to a request for comment. Earlier this week, he sent his inspectors to Natanz and confirmed that Iran is preparing to start enriching 60% in an above-ground facility.
Israel, which has twice bombed Middle Eastern countries to halt its nuclear programs, plans to hold a meeting of its security officials on Sunday for the Iranian announcement. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi called Iran a threat while on a trip to Cyprus on Friday.
“Israel is determined to defend itself against any attempt to harm its sovereignty or its citizens and will do whatever is necessary to prevent this radical and anti-Semitic regime from acquiring nuclear weapons,” Ashkenazi said.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, although the West and the IAEA say Tehran has organized a military nuclear program until the end of 2003. An annual US intelligence report released on Tuesday maintained the US assessment that “Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear nucleus the weapons development activities we judge would be necessary to produce a nuclear device. ”
Iran has previously said it can use up to 60% enriched uranium for nuclear-powered ships. However, the Islamic Republic does not currently have such ships in its navy.
The threat of further enrichment of Iran has already attracted criticism from the US and three European nations under the agreement – France, Germany and the United Kingdom. On Friday, European Union spokesman Peter Stano called Iran’s decision a “very worrying development.”
“There is no credible explanation or civil justification for such action by Iran,” Stano said. The talks in Vienna are aimed at “making sure that we turn away from such steps that take Iran further from fulfilling its commitments and obligations.”
Diplomats met again in Vienna on Friday. After talks on Thursday, Chinese negotiator Wang Qun called for the elimination of “all disruptive factors, moving forward as quickly as we can in the negotiating work, especially by reducing sanctions.”
The 2015 nuclear deal, from which former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States in 2018, prevented Iran from storing enough rich uranium to be able to pursue a nuclear weapon if it chose to lift economic sanctions in exchange.
The weekend attack on Natanz was initially described only as a power outage that powers both its above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls – but later Iranian officials began calling the attack.
Alireza Zakani, the harsh head of the Iranian parliament’s research center, referred to “several thousand damaged and destroyed centrifuges” in a state TV interview. However, no other official provided that figure and no images of the consequences were published.
In the coming weeks, Iran has threatened to continue to block IAEA inspections and could destroy the videos it now owns at its facilities.. Meanwhile, it continues to use advanced centrifuges and gain know-how in high enrichment, which worries non-proliferation experts.
“As the agreement began to unfold, Iran began to gain more knowledge about how to operate more advanced machines,” said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Washington Arms Control Association. “This special operation, enriched by 60%, will give him even more information.”
Borrowing a term used to describe the dilution of enriched uranium, Kimball added: “This knowledge cannot be mixed down. It cannot be reversed. ”
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Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi of Tehran, Iran; Akram Tariffs in Gaza City, Gaza Strip; Samuel Petrequin in Brussels; and David Rising and Frank Jordans of Berlin contributed.