Iran “will begin to enrich uranium to 60%,” the official Irna agency announced on Tuesday, two days after “sabotage” of its Natanz enrichment plant, which Tehran blames on Israel.
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Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister, made the announcement “in a letter to Rafael Grossi”, the executive director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Islamic Republic is currently enriching uranium to 20% in isotope 235, well above the limit of 3.67% set by the international Iran nuclear agreement concluded in Vienna in 2015.
An enrichment to 60% would enable it to quickly increase to the 90% and more, necessary for the use of this ore for military purposes.
Irna does not specify when these activities would begin, which would mark a further step in the violation of commitments made by Iran to the international community in 2015 to limit its nuclear program.
But according to PressTV, the state television news channel in English, this measure will be implemented on Wednesday.
“We have seen the press reports” on this subject but “we have no comment at this stage,” an IAEA spokesperson in Vienna told AFP.
The Islamic Republic has always denied wanting to acquire nuclear weapons, arguing a moral and religious ban.
In his letter to Mr. Grossi, Mr. Araghchi also declares that “1000 additional centrifuges with a 50% higher capacity will be added to the machines present at Natanz, in addition to the replacement of the damaged machines” by the explosion which occurred on Sunday in this complex. nuclear in central Iran, adds Irna without giving more details.
The announcements come hours after a meeting in Tehran between Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Earlier, state television announced that Araghchi had left Tehran to attend a meeting in Vienna on Wednesday to take stock of ongoing talks to bring the United States back into the agreement on the nuclear power in 2015 and to bring Tehran back to the strict application of the text, in exchange for the lifting of the sanctions imposed by Washington against the Islamic Republic since 2018.