DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The president of Iran on Wednesday appealed to his country’s decision to dramatically increase its uranium enrichment after saboteurs attacked a nuclear site ” an answer to your evil ” and said Israel hopes to derail ongoing talks to revive Tehran’s fragmented core world powers.
This weekend’s sabotage at the Natanz nuclear facility appears to be part of a growing shadow war between the two countries. Israeli authorities did not comment on the attack, but are widely suspected of carrying it out.
Iran announced on Tuesday that it would increase uranium enrichment to 60%, the highest level ever, in response to the attack. This could lead to further retaliation, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow Tehran to acquire a nuclear weapon. Although the move from Iran keeps enrichment below arms degree levels at 90%, it is a short step away.
In his cabinet, a passionate president, Hassan Rouhani, said the first-generation IR-1 centrifuges damaged during the attack would be replaced with advanced IR-6 centrifuges that enrich uranium faster.
“You wanted to empty our hands during the talks, but our hands are full,” Rouhani said.
He referred to ongoing talks in Vienna aimed at finding a way for the United States to re – enter Tehran’s nuclear deal and bring Iran back to its borders. The agreement prevented Iran from having enough uranium supplies to pursue a nuclear weapon, in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
Rouhani added: “60% enrichment is a response to your evil. … We both cut off your hands, one with IR-6 centrifuges and one with 60%. ‘
Rouhani also accused Israel of being behind the Natanz attack.
“It simply came to our notice then. “If the Zionists take action against our people, we will respond,” he said without elaborating.
In Jerusalem during a commemoration of the Memorial Day, it appears that Netanyahu is referring to Iran.
“We must never remain apathetic to the threats of war and the extermination of those we seek to eliminate,” he said.
Officials initially said the enrichment would begin Wednesday. However, an early Wednesday tweet from Iran’s delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazem Gharibadadi, suggested it could come later.
“The adaptation of the process has just begun and we expect to collect the product next week,” Gharibadadi wrote.
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. A US intelligence report released on Tuesday upheld the US assessment that ‘Iran is not currently undertaking the key core. weapons development activities that we believe would be necessary to produce a nuclear device. ”
The talks in Vienna are aimed at reviving America’s role in the agreement – and lifting the sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump after he unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018. Rouhani said in his Wednesday comments insisted that Iran still wants to seek a negotiated settlement on its program.
“The US needs to return to the same conditions as in 2015 when we signed the nuclear deal,” Rouhani said.
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 IAEA has confirmed that Iran has informed it of its plans to enrich up to 60%.
Iran has enriched up to 20% – and even that was a short technical step to the level of weapons.
The weekend attack on Natanz was initially described only as an eclipse in the electrical network that carries 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.
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Associated Press authors Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.