Iranian regime says it has produced 120 kilograms of 20% enriched uranium, nearly four times more than allowed by nuclear deal

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohamad Eslami, announced that the Persian regime has so far produced 120 kilograms of 20% enriched uranium, a percentage almost four times higher than that allowed by the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between the Islamic Republic and the international community.

“We have exceeded 120 kilos. We have more than this number“Eslami told Iranian state television late last night. Eslami asserted that the international community should deliver 20% enriched uranium for the Tehran reactor to Iran, according to the nuclear agreement known by its acronym JCPOA, signed in 2015. As he added, “ this fuel is one of the basic needs of our country “.

“Our people know well that the Western powers were supposed to give us the 20% enriched fuel to use in the Tehran reactor, but they did not. If our colleagues do not do it, naturally we would have problems with the lack of fuel for the reactor, ”he explained in comments collected in turn by the pan-Arab channel. Al-Arabiya.

Iran should not produce enriched uranium above 3.67% according to JCPOA.

In 2018, the United States, under President Donald Trump, unilaterally abandoned it and reimposed sanctions against Tehran.

As an answer, Iran started producing more uranium and purity than allowed in 2019, and this year it has reached a level of 20%. In April, the Islamic Republic passed the 60% enrichment limit, approaching the 90% needed to make a nuclear bomb. Since then, it has produced around ten kilos of uranium of this type.

Eslami’s announcement comes as the resumption of negotiations to save the JCPOA, signed in 2015 with six major powers (United States, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom and Germany).

Last April, negotiations began in Vienna with the six great powers, indirectly including the United States, to obtain Washington’s return to the pact and Iran’s compliance with all of its obligations that it is violating.

However, after the new Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisí, came to power in August, these talks came to a halt. Since then, the Iranian authorities have responded “soon” to international pressure for the resumption of negotiations.

Last Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that time and patience were running out for Iran to return to the international pact over its nuclear program. In this context, Washington threatened to launch a “Plan B” if Iran did not return to the negotiating table, without giving more details on this alternative.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Friday said he was optimistic about the progress of talks on reactivating the 2015 accord, provided Washington fully resumes its commitments.

President Joe Biden aims to restore dealBut the parties disagree on what action to take and when, the key questions being what nuclear limits Tehran will accept and what sanctions Washington will remove.

Last week, the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the European Union, Josep borrell, indicated that negotiations would resume “soon”.

During a press conference in Doha, the capital of Qatar, the head of European diplomacy referred to the indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in Vienna, which began in April and were suspended two days after their Ibrahim Raisi will win the Iranian presidential elections in June.

Borrell said he believed negotiations for Tehran and Washington to fully comply with the deal would resume “within an acceptable time frame.”

Despite Iran’s need to bolster its economy by negotiating an end to US sanctions, diplomats hope Raisi will take a tougher line when the Vienna talks resume.

(With information from EFE, Reuters and Europa Press)

KEEP READING: