Kamalvandi: We have produced 25 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium; only countries with nuclear weapons have this capability
The spokesperson for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization announced that Iran’s uranium reserves with high enrichment have reached 25 kilograms, stating that only countries possessing nuclear weapons are capable of this level of enrichment.
Behrouz Kamalvandi stated on Wednesday evening, Aban 12, during a ceremony at the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran, that according to a resolution by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 120 kilograms of uranium with 20 percent enrichment should have been produced, but Iran’s current reserves of 20 percent enriched uranium have reached 210 kilograms.
He added that with the removal of legal restrictions, reserves of 60 percent enriched uranium have also increased to 25 kilograms.
These remarks come at a time when Tehran has announced that a new round of talks to revive the JCPOA is set to resume in Vienna on Azar 8 (November 29) after a hiatus of several months.
The International Atomic Energy Agency in a report published in September of this year had announced Iran’s 20 percent enriched uranium reserves at 84 kilograms and Iran’s highly enriched uranium reserves at the 60 percent level at 10 kilograms.
Britain, France, and Germany, the three remaining European parties to the JCPOA, subsequently described Iran’s nuclear advances as “unacceptable,” while commending the agency’s “timely, independent and accurate” report. They simultaneously emphasized that Iran must immediately halt the production of uranium metal and uranium enriched to 60 percent.
Producing a nuclear bomb requires uranium enrichment to the 90 percent level, and Iran has come close to this threshold.
Based on a resolution passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in December of last year, the Iranian government restricted access by agency inspectors to its nuclear facilities and suspended the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol from Esfand 99 (March 2021). As part of this measure, the agency has been denied access to data from surveillance cameras at Iran’s nuclear sites for months.
Meanwhile, Tehran over the past two years, by deviating from its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA, has increased the number of advanced centrifuges, raised uranium enrichment levels to higher degrees, and severely restricted agency inspectors’ monitoring of its nuclear program.
France warned on Thursday that it is engaged in consultations with its partners on how to respond to the “non-cooperation” of Iran’s government with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Source: Radio Farda
