DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Iran on Friday enriched uranium to its highest level ever, and closer to arms levels after pressure talks in Vienna aimed at restoring its nuclear deal with world powers after an attack on its main nuclear site.
A top official said that only a few grams of uranium gas would be enriched to a purity of 60% per hour – tripling the level it once did, but at a rate much slower than Tehran could deliver. International inspectors have already said Iran plans to do so above ground at its Natanz nuclear site, not deep in its underground halls that have been hardened to withstand airstrikes.
The move is likely to raise tensions, even as Iran negotiates in Vienna on a way to allow the US back into the agreement and lift the crushing economic sanctions it faces. However, its scale also provides Iran with a way to decal quickly if it so chooses.
The announcement also indicates a significant increase after the attack that damaged centrifuges at Natanz, an attack this past weekend that was allegedly carried out by Israel. While Israel has yet to claim it, it comes amid a long shadow war between the two rivals in the Middle East.
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Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, speaker of parliament in Iran, announced the move in a Twitter post that was later acknowledged by Iranian state television.
“The young and religious Iranian scientists have succeeded in achieving a 60% enriched uranium product,” Qalibaf said. “I congratulate the brave nation of Islamic Iran on this success. The willpower of the Iranian nation is miraculous and can defuse any conspiracy.”
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization in Iran, the country’s civilian nuclear weapon, later acknowledged the step to 60%, according to state TV. Ali Akbar Salehi said the centrifuges now deliver 9 grams per hour, but that will drop to 5 grams per hour in the coming days.
“Now, any enrichment (level) is possible if we decide on it,” Salehi said.
State TV later referred to the ruling as a ‘show of strength against terrorist infallibility’.
It was not clear why the first announcement came from Qalibaf, a former former leader of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who had already been nominated as a potential presidential candidate in Iran’s upcoming June elections.
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While 60% is higher than any level that Iran has previously enriched uranium, it is still lower than the 90% level of weapons.
Iran has enriched up to 20% – even if it was a short technical step to armaments. The agreement limited the enrichment of Iran to 3.67%.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iran’s nuclear program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this week, he sent his inspectors to Natanz, confirming that Iran is ready to begin 60% enrichment at an above-ground facility on the site.
The increased enrichment could inspire a further response from Israel amid a protracted shadow war between the nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow Tehran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and his country has bombed Middle Eastern countries twice for the time being to halt their nuclear programs.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi tweeted Iran on a visit to Cyprus after meeting his Cyprus counterpart.
“We discussed the bilateral ties between Israel and Cyprus as well as regional issues, in particular the importance of halting Iran’s aggressive activities in the Middle East, which undermines the stability of the region and poses a danger to the entire world,” he said. he wrote.
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Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, although the West and the IAEA say Tehran had an organized military nuclear program until the end of 2003. An annual US intelligence report released on Tuesday upheld the US assessment that Iran does not currently have the key core is not. weapons development activities that we believe would be necessary to manufacture a nuclear device. ‘
Iran had earlier said it could use up to 60% of processed uranium for nuclear-powered ships. However, the Islamic Republic currently has no such ships in its fleet.
The threat of higher enrichment by Iran has already provoked criticism from the US and three European countries in the agreement – France, Germany and the United Kingdom. European Union spokesman Peter Stano on Friday called Iran’s decision a “very worrying development”.
“There is no credible statement or civil justification for such action on the part of Iran,” Stano said. The Vienna talks aim to ‘make sure we go back on such steps that take Iran further in meeting its commitments and obligations’
The 2015 nuclear deal, for which former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US in 2018, prevented Iran from storing enough highly enriched uranium to pursue a nuclear weapon, should it opt in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
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The attack on the weekend in Natanz was initially described only as an eclipse in the electrical network, which swept both the above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls – but later Iranian officials began calling it an attack.
Alireza Zakani, the hard line of the Iranian parliament’s research center, referred to several thousand centrifuges damaged and destroyed in a state TV interview. However, no other official offered it and no images of the aftermath were released.
Satellite images from Planet Labs Inc., obtained by The Associated Press, show no apparent above-ground damage to the facility.