Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Mohammad Eslami claimed that work had started on ‘enriching uranium to 60 percent purity’ at the Fordow site, during a briefing at the facility outside Qom on Tuesday.
Eslami said the action was taken ‘in response to the resolution’ passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week, sponsored by the UK, USA, France and Germany.
That undertaking accused Iran of not co-operating sufficiently over allegations of traces of uranium at several undeclared sites, and called on the country to provide an explanation. Tehran rejected the claims.
“Political behaviour and pressure through the capabilities of international organisations did not and won’t be successful,” said Eslami. “This is the statement of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency as he stated that the resolution cannot be effective, and in executing strategic action regulation, we will apply the nuclear plan in accordance with IAEA’s framework.”
Tehran says the IAEA investigation must be closed before there can be any progress on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA). That deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for it limiting its nuclear ambitions, was abandoned by the US in 2018 although work on its successor is ongoing.
USA unilaterally pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran. President Joe Biden has been negotiating a possible return to the JCPOA, but no agreement has been achieved so far.
