Tehran’s decision to enrich uranium to 60% casts doubt on the seriousness of its intentions regarding negotiations on a nuclear deal. This was announced on April 14 by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at a press conference at NATO headquarters.
“We took their provocative announcement of their intention to begin enriching uranium to 60% very seriously, and the five plus one group (permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany – Ed.) Should jointly reject this. This step calls into question the seriousness of Iran’s intentions regarding negotiations on the nuclear program, ”TASS quoted Blinken as saying.
In his opinion, the United States has very clearly demonstrated to the other participants in the negotiations and to the whole world that it is serious about its intentions.
“It remains to be seen whether Iran has the same seriousness of intentions,” the US Secretary of State said.
As Blinken stressed, this step by Iran demonstrates the need to return to compliance by both sides with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program.
From April 14, Tehran was going to start enriching uranium to 60%. For this, it was planned to install 1,000 new centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility. The country informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about its plans.
Iran’s decision to enrich uranium to 60% has raised concerns in Britain, France and Germany. They stated that this measure will significantly increase the Iranian side’s uranium enrichment capabilities.
On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani explained that the country’s enrichment of uranium to 60% and the installation of new centrifuges was a response to the actions of Israel, which Tehran considers to be involved in the accident at the nuclear facility in Natanz.
The state of emergency became known on April 11. According to the official representative of the Atomic Energy Organization, Behruz Kamalwandi, the accident occurred due to a mild explosion. As a result, no one was hurt. Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi called the accident a terrorist attack.
On April 13, the United States has already called Iran’s decision on enrichment a provocation and said that they expect the continuation of negotiations on the nuclear deal.
Tehran began uranium enrichment with a cascade of advanced IR-4 centrifuges in March this year. It was noted that the improved devices make it possible to enrich uranium faster and in larger quantities than the first generation IR-1 centrifuges – the only ones allowed to Iran by the international Vienna agreement.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015, it assumed the lifting of sanctions on Iran in exchange for limiting the country’s nuclear program. But in May 2018, the United States pulled out of the deal and reinstated tough sanctions on Tehran. In turn, Iran in 2019 announced a phased reduction of its obligations under the agreement.