IRAN MOVES TO RAISE NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT CAPACITY

VIENNA: Iran has informed the UN nuclear watchdog of “tentative” plans to produce the feedstock for centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium, the agency said on Tuesday after Iran said it was preparing to increase its enrichment capacity.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Monday he had ordered preparations to increase uranium enrichment capacity if its nuclear deal fell apart after US President Donald Trump announced his country’s withdrawal last month. European powers are scrambling to salvage the deal, which imposes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions.

A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it received a letter from Iran on 4 June informing there is a tentative schedule to start production of UF6, referring to uranium hexafluoride, the feedstock for centrifuges.

The deal allows Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67%, far below the 90% of weapons grade, and caps its stock of enriched uranium hexafluoride at 300 kg.

In Paris, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Tuesday to convince European states to abandon a nuclear deal, saying Tehran’s threats to increase uranium enrichment capacity showed it still planned to destroy Israel.

His talks with President Emmanuel Macron is part of a tour to persuade the European signatories - Britain, France and Germany - to follow Washington’s lead in scrapping the accord that they signed with Tehran in 2015.

The three European states see the deal as the best chance to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.

But Israel argues that Iran has duped the West and plans to use the break from sanctions to build up its financial reserves before returning to its nuclear plans.