IAEA warns of new nuclear developments in Iran, US is very concerned, what does Russia say?

On December 26, Reuters quoted information from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) saying that Iran is increasing uranium enrichment to 60% purity, close to weapons-grade, reversing the previous "slowdown" process.

Máy ly tâm trong cơ sở làm giàu uranium Natanz ở miền trung Iran, trong hình ảnh do Tổ chức Năng lượng Nguyên tử Iran công bố qua AP

Centrifuges at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. (Source: AP/IAEA)

Many diplomats believe that since June 2023, Iran has implemented a regime of slowing the rate of uranium enrichment to 60% purity, after Tehran and Washington held secret talks that led to the release of American citizens held in the Islamic Republic earlier in the year.

However, in a statement summarizing a confidential report sent to member states and seen by Reuters , the IAEA said that Iran had "increased production of highly enriched uranium, reversing production declines from mid-2023."

Tehran is enriching uranium to up to 60%, close to the weapons-grade level of around 90%, at its pilot fuel enrichment plant (PFEP) in the vast Natanz complex and at the Fordow fuel enrichment plant (FFEP).

According to the IAEA, since the implementation of the slowdown regime, these plants have enriched uranium up to 60% at a rate of about 3 kg per month, but to date, the IAEA "confirms that since the end of November 2023, the production rate of uranium enriched to 60% U-235 at these two facilities combined has increased to about 9 kg per month".

Enriching uranium to 60% is much higher than the 3.67% limit that Iran committed to in the agreement that Tehran and the P5+1 Group (including the 5 UN Security Council countries: UK, France, US, Russia and China along with Germany) signed in 2015, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Regarding this new development, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council said the US is "very concerned".

“Iran’s nuclear escalation is all the more concerning at a time when Tehran-backed proxies continue dangerous and destabilizing activities in the region, including the recent deadly drone strike and other attacks in Iraq and Syria, as well as Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” the spokesman stressed.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Representative of Russia to international organizations in Vienna (Austria) said that if the US and the E3 group of countries (UK, France and Germany) did not prevent the restoration of the JCPOA in 2022, the current level of uranium enrichment in Iran would not exceed 3.67%.

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