Iran has begun enriching uranium to 60% at Iran's Fordow nuclear facility using an IR-6 centrifuge cascade. This was reported by ISNA on Tuesday, citing the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
ISNA notes that the decision was made in response to an IAEA Board of Governors resolution on Iran's nuclear program, drafted by the United States and the Euro-Troika (Britain, France and Germany).
"In response to the resolution adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran began enriching uranium to 60% at the Fordow nuclear facility. <...> Replacing first-generation centrifuges with more modern devices of the IR-6 type at the Fordow nuclear facility will result in a significant increase in production capacity," the report said.
The agency also confirmed the use of IR-2m and IR-4 centrifuges for uranium enrichment at Natanz.
On January 1, 2021, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi notified the agency's Board of Governors and the UN Security Council of Iran's intention to begin enriching uranium to 20%. On January 4, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabia said that Tehran had started the process of enriching uranium to 20% at Fordow.
On October 12 this year, Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, confirmed that uranium enrichment had begun at Natanz on the third cascade of IR-6 centrifuges. According to Reuters, which cited a confidential IAEA report, this was the third of three cascades launched. According to the report, Iran notified the IAEA that it intended to install three additional IR-2m centrifuge cascades at Natanz in addition to the 12 already planned. The IAEA also stated that an IR-4 and six IR-2m centrifuge cascades had been installed at the site, but that these had not been used for uranium enrichment.
IAEA resolutions
On November 17, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a US and Euro-Troika resolution calling for compliance with obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) safeguards agreement. In addition, the IAEA demanded that Iran urgently explain the origin of the nuclear material found at undeclared sites in the country, provide documentation and access to these sites. Of the 35 countries represented on the board, 26 supported the resolution, five abstained, and Russia and China voted against it.
On June 8, the board of governors also adopted a resolution condemning Iran for its refusal to provide technically sound explanations for the presence of traces of uranium at the three undeclared sites. At that time the document was supported by 30 states. Russia and China opposed it, while India, Libya and Pakistan abstained.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Hossein Ostovar/Creative Commons 4.0
Based on materials from TASS