Status: 02/02/2023 07:34
Since the United States withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran has repeatedly violated the conditions. The IAEA had already determined that the degree of purity of the uranium was too high. Now a plant is said to have been secretly rebuilt.
Iran has secretly converted a plant to produce highly enriched uranium, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Tehran has violated its obligation to provide information about such steps, criticized the head of the authority, Rafael Grossi.
Since the end of 2022, the plant has been producing uranium with a purity of up to 60 percent. This is well above the cap set in the 2015 nuclear deal.
Grossi has pointed out in the past that Iran has thus approached the 90 percent degree of enrichment for nuclear weapons. Iranian politicians have been saying for years that they do not want to build nuclear weapons. Depending on the degree of purity, uranium can be used to operate nuclear power plants or to build nuclear weapons.
Unannounced control in Fordow
As Grossi reported, IAEA inspectors discovered during an unannounced inspection of the Fordow plant that enrichment machines had been “significantly” modified since November. The IAEA did not say whether and how this increased production capacity. A confidential report on the IAEA inspection, which the Reuters news agency says it was able to see, said that two units of centrifuges were connected in a way that differed significantly from the declared structure.
Grossi reported last week in the European Parliament that Iran already has enough uranium for several nuclear weapons if the material is further enriched. However, Tehran still has a long way to go before building such weapons, with technical and political hurdles.
Violations of the nuclear pact are increasing
In 2015, Iran pledged to limit its nuclear program. In return, Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic were lifted.
Since the United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, Iran has repeatedly violated the terms of the agreement. According to the agreement, uranium enrichment was completely prohibited at the Fordo plant. Negotiations to restore the nuclear pact, in which Germany is also involved, have been on hold for months.