The United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany on Thursday condemned the acceleration of the production of highly enriched uranium by the Islamic Republic of Iran, revealed in a report published on Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
This is almost unanimous when it comes to the production of enriched uranium in Iran. “We condemn this measure, which further exacerbates the continued escalation of Iran’s nuclear program,” they said in a joint statement, stating that “Iran’s production of highly enriched uranium has no credible civilian justification.”
According to the UN agency, Iran has “increased its production of highly enriched uranium in recent weeks, despite slowing down its pace since mid-2023.”
“These facts represent a step in the wrong direction by Iran, with the consequence of tripling its monthly production of enriched uranium to 60%,” denounced in their statement Washington, Paris, Berlin, and London, who are concerned about “significant proliferation risks.”
“These decisions demonstrate Iran’s lack of willingness to engage in good faith de-escalation and reflect irresponsible behavior in a regional context of tension,” they added, calling on Tehran to “fully cooperate with the IAEA.”
Iran, for its part, stated on Wednesday that there was “nothing new” in the IAEA report. “We were producing the same level of enrichment at 60%. We have not changed anything, and we have not developed new capabilities,” said Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (OIEA), as cited by the official Irna news agency.
Iran is now enriching to levels far beyond the ceiling set at 3.67% by the 2015 international agreement that oversees Tehran’s atomic activities and is approaching the 90% required to produce a nuclear bomb. However, it denies wanting to acquire nuclear weapons.
The slowdown in the production rate to 60%, observed by the IAEA a few months ago, was seen by experts as a gesture as talks resumed with the United States.
The Iranian nuclear deal collapsed following Washington’s withdrawal in 2018, decided by the then-president, Donald Trump. His successor, Joe Biden, tried to revive it through talks in Vienna, but they have been at a standstill since the summer of 2022.
However, animosity has escalated in recent months with the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas, which Washington and Tehran accuse each other of exacerbating.
The Islamic Republic has also excluded IAEA inspectors and disconnected cameras necessary for monitoring its nuclear program.
With AFP
