DUBAI, UAE – Iran began uranium enrichment on Friday to its highest level, approaching gun levels in pressure talks in Vienna aimed at restoring its nuclear deal with world powers after an attack on its main atomic site.
A senior official said only a few grams per hour of uranium gas would be enriched to 60% purity, three times the level it did before, but at a much slower rate than Tehran could produce. International inspectors have already said Iran planned to do so above ground at its Natanz nuclear site, not in the depths of its hardened underground chambers to withstand airstrikes.
This measure is likely to increase tensions even as Iran negotiates in Vienna on a way to allow the United States to return to the agreement and lift the overwhelming economic sanctions it faces. However, its scope also provides Iran with a way to slow down quickly if it chooses.
The announcement also marks a significant escalation following the attack that damaged the centrifuges in Natanz, an attack this past weekend suspected to have been carried out by Israel. Although Israel has not yet claimed it, it is taking place in the midst of a long shadow war between the two rivals in the Middle East.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, chairman of the Iranian parliament, announced the measure in a Twitter post later recognized by Iranian state television.
“Iranian young scientists and believers managed to get a 60% enriched uranium product,” Qalibaf said. “I congratulate the brave nation of Islamic Iran for this success. The willpower of the Iranian nation is miraculous and can deactivate any conspiracy. “
According to state television, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, the country’s civilian nuclear arm, acknowledged the 60% step. Ali Akbar Salehi said centrifuges now produce 9 grams per hour, but would drop to 5 grams per hour in the coming days.
“Any level of enrichment we want is within our reach right now and we can do it anytime we want,” Salehi said.
State TV later referred to the decision as a “show of power against the terrorist scoundrel.” Similarly, Mahmoud Vaezi, chief of staff to the president of Iran, said he sent the message that Iran’s nuclear program “will not be stopped by the killing of nuclear scientists and sabotage at the facilities nuclear “.
It was unclear why the first announcement came from Qalibaf, a former leader of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, already nominated as a potential presidential candidate in Iran’s upcoming June elections.
While 60% is above any level that Iran has previously enriched uranium, it is still below 90% weapons grade levels.
Iran had become rich by up to 20%, even this meant a brief technical step up to the degree of armament. The deal limited Iran’s enrichment to 3.67%.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which controls Iran’s nuclear program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this week, he sent his inspectors to Natanz and confirmed that Iran was preparing to start a 60% enrichment in a field facility on the site.
Intense enrichment could inspire a new Israeli response amid a long shadow war between nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon and his country has pre-emptively bombed Middle Eastern nations twice to stop its atomic programs.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, on a visit to Cyprus, introduced Iran in a tweet after meeting his Cypriot counterpart.
“We discussed bilateral ties between Israel and Cyprus, as well as regional issues, most significantly the importance of stopping Iran’s aggressive activities in the Middle East, which undermine regional stability and pose a danger to the Middle East. whole world, ”he wrote.
Israeli army radio reported that the country’s security crisis council would meet on Sunday to discuss Iran’s decision.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, although the West and the IAEA say Tehran had a military nuclear program in place until the end of 2003. An annual U.S. intelligence report released on Tuesday maintained the US assessment that “Iran is not taking over the nuclear power plant the weapons development activities we judge would be necessary to produce a nuclear device.”
Earlier, Iran had said it could use up to 60% enriched uranium for nuclear-powered ships. However, the Islamic Republic does not currently have these vessels in its navy.
The threat of further enrichment by Iran had already provoked criticism from the United States and three European nations in the agreement: France, Germany and the United Kingdom. On Friday, European Union spokesman Peter Stano described Iran’s decision as “a very worrying development”.
“There is no credible explanation or civil justification for this action alongside Iran,” Stano said. The Vienna talks are aimed at “ensuring that we take back these steps that take Iran away from fulfilling its commitments and obligations.”
Diplomats met again on Friday to speak in Vienna. Following talks on Thursday, Chinese negotiator Wang Qun called for the elimination of “all disruptive factors by advancing as quickly as we can in the work of the negotiations, especially by reducing the lifting of sanctions to zero.”
The 2015 nuclear deal, from which former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. in 2018, prevented Iran from storing enough enriched uranium to be able to pursue a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. .
The weekend attack on Natanz was initially described only as a power outage that fed both ground workshops and underground enrichment rooms, but Iranian officials later began calling it an attack. .
Alireza Zakani, the head of the Iranian parliament’s research center, referred to “several thousand damaged and destroyed centrifuges” in a state television interview. However, no other official has offered this figure and no images of the sequels have been posted.
Satellite images of Planet Labs Inc. analyzed by The Associated Press show no apparent surface damage to the installation.
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The writers of the Associated Press, Nasser Karimi, in Tehran, Iran; Akram fares in Gaza City, Gaza Strip; Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and David Rising and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.