“Some of Iran's 60% enriched uranium is not easily recoverable”
Reuters, based on a confidential report, wrote that Iran has changed some of its 60 percent enriched uranium into a form that cannot be easily recovered, diluted, or transported abroad, making it difficult to return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
Reuters news agency, citing a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote that the Islamic Republic has transformed some of its 60 percent enriched uranium into a form that cannot be easily diluted, recovered, or transported outside the country.
Reuters wrote that this move is unlikely to destroy indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States to revive the JCPOA, but Iran's move has made the conditions for returning to the 2015 agreement more difficult and has challenged some European and American parties.
The United States, France, Britain and Germany, which are parties to the nuclear negotiations with Iran, in a joint statement issued last Tuesday, called on Iran to "refrain from any new escalation of tensions" and "immediately cease all activities related to the conversion of highly enriched uranium (60 percent) that would have practical consequences for returning to the limits of the JCPOA."
The JCPOA agreement requires Iran not to enrich its uranium stockpile above 3.67 percent. However, according to the latest report from the Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has enriched nearly 33 kilograms of 60 percent uranium, which is very close to the 90 percent enrichment level. 90 percent enriched uranium is used to produce nuclear bombs.
Reuters wrote in its report that the agency had previously reported to the Board of Governors that Iran had converted all of its 60 percent enriched uranium stockpiles into uranium hexafluoride gas, which can be re-enriched to a level of 3.67 percent, but between March 6 and 15, it converted more than 2.6 kilograms of its 60 percent enriched uranium stockpiles into another form of uranium with the same concentration level.
This form of uranium is irradiated, producing molybdenum-99, an isotope widely used in medical imaging. The uranium left over from this process is recoverable at a 60 percent level.
This news comes as Iran has repeatedly announced during months of negotiations with Western parties that it is close to an agreement, but there are still serious points of disagreement for the revival of the JCPOA. In his latest statement, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said: "We had four issues as our red lines. Of these four issues, two have been resolved, but two remain, including economic guarantees."
He also said that if the American side meets two of Iran's demands, an agreement can be reached quickly. The JCPOA negotiations faced great difficulty with Russia's condition that sanctions against the country would not affect Russia's trade and financial relations with Iran.
This prompted the Iranian Foreign Minister to travel to Moscow on Tuesday, March 15, to meet and talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. It was after this meeting that Russia announced that it had received a written assurance from the United States that the new sanctions against Russia would not prevent cooperation within the framework of the Iran nuclear deal.
Following Lavrov's remarks, Reuters quoted a senior US State Department official as saying that the United States would continue to work with Russia to revive the JCPOA and that Washington would not sanction Russia's participation in nuclear projects that are part of the JCPOA agreement, provided that the JCPOA is fully implemented. The US State Department official also stressed that his country could not give Russia any further guarantees.
However, some US officials have said they will not allow Moscow to circumvent recent US sanctions against Russia through the JCPOA. Also, 49 of the 50 Republican US senators said on Monday, March 14, that they “will not support” a new nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The senators have said they will do “everything in their power” to repeal the agreement, which “does not fully block” the Iranian regime’s ability to produce nuclear weapons, “does not limit its ballistic missile program,” and “does not prevent the Islamic Republic from supporting terrorism.”
Source: DW
