The United States expressed its “deep concern” over the International Atomic Energy Agency's report on Iran's increased production of enriched uranium. This was stated by a spokesman for the White House National Security Council on Tuesday.
The spokesman added, “The Iranian nuclear escalation raises even more concern at a time when Iranian-backed parties continue their dangerous and destabilizing activities in the region.” Examples cited include “the recent deadly drone strike and other attempts to launch attacks in Iraq and Syria” and Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The head of the Iranian Nuclear Energy Organization, Mohammad Islami, said, according to Iranian media, that there is no new development. “We are not doing anything new. We are carrying out the same activities and we are doing it according to the rules,” he said after the media reported on the IAEA report.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says that Iran has enriched about 9 kilograms of uranium per month to 60 percent since the end of last November. This is much more than is necessary for civilian purposes. If uranium is used to generate electricity, enrichment of a few percent will be sufficient. Highly enriched uranium can be used to produce nuclear weapons. Uranium is then generally used, which is approximately 90 percent enriched.
The nuclear agreement
The Iranian nuclear program has been causing unrest for years. So the country struck a deal in 2015 with the United States, China, Russia and the European Union, among others. Iran promised to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions. This nuclear agreement actually collapsed when then US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the agreement in 2018. According to Trump, it did not go far enough.
The current US administration hopes to conclude new agreements with Iran regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. As far as is known, there is no possibility of a breakthrough in those consultations yet.
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By: Editing
