The Wall Street Journal, citing diplomats, said Iran has built advanced centrifuge parts away from IAEA oversight.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Western diplomats, that Iran has resumed production of parts for "advanced centrifuges" at a site that the International Atomic Energy Agency has been unable to monitor for months.
The Wall Street Journal, in its report on Tuesday, cited this issue as a new challenge for the administration of US President Joe Biden.
The newspaper writes that the new Iranian activity has raised concerns among Western diplomats. They say that the move could allow Iran to secretly use centrifuge parts to develop a covert nuclear weapons program if it decides to do so. The diplomats also say that there is no evidence at this point that Iran has taken such a step.
Nuclear talks between world powers and Iran to revive the JCPOA are set to resume in Vienna on November 29. Iran and world powers held six rounds of nuclear talks in Vienna before Ebrahim Raisi came to power to return to JCPOA commitments.
The talks began after Joe Biden, after winning the US presidential election and entering the White House, announced that if Iran returned to its commitments in the JCPOA, the United States would return to it. Former US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal signed under Barack Obama and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran.
Iran says it wants a guarantee from the Biden administration that Washington will not withdraw from the deal again. The Biden administration says it cannot provide such a guarantee.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran began limited work at a centrifuge parts manufacturing site in Karaj in late August and has since expanded production. Iran halted work at the Karaj facility after a sabotage operation that included an explosion. Tehran has blamed Israel for the attack. Israel has not confirmed any involvement in the sabotage.
A diplomat said that since late August, Iran has produced parts for at least 170 centrifuges. Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium. Uranium enriched to 90 percent is used to make nuclear weapons.
Source: Voice of America
