Iran signals red-line uranium enrichment
Move would bring nation closer to weapons-grade
Iran said it plans to enrich uranium up to 20 per cent at its underground Fordo nuclear facility “as soon as possible”, pushing its programme a technical step away from weapons-grade levels as it increases pressure on the West over the damaged atomic deal.
The move comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US in the waning days of the administration of President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal in 2018.
That set in motion an escalating series of incidents capped by a US drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad a year ago, an anniversary yesterday that had American officials worried about possible retaliation by Iran.
Iran’s decision to begin enriching to 20 per cent a decade ago nearly brought an Israeli strike targeting its nuclear facilities, tensions that only abated with the 2015 atomic deal. A resumption of 20 per cent enrichment could see that brinksmanship return.
The White House had no immediate comment and referred to a statement issued in December by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after Iran’s Parliament passed a bill on increasing uranium enrichment. Pompeo condemned the law as “nothing more than the regime’s latest ploy to use its nuclear programme to try to intimidate the international community”.
A spokesman for President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team declined to comment.
Iran’s decision comes after its Parliament passed a bill, later approved by a constitutional watchdog, aimed at raising enrichment to pressure Europe into providing sanctions relief. It also serves as pressure ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Biden, who has said he is willing to re-enter the nuclear deal.
The International Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged Iran had informed its inspectors of the decision by a letter after news leaked on Saturday. The IAEA added Iran did not say when it planned to boost enrichment, though the agency has inspectors present in Iran and regular access to Fordo. The parliamentary bill also called on Iran to expel those inspectors, but Tehran is yet to take that step.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the civilian Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said Iran would need to replace natural uranium in centrifuges at Fordo with material already enriched to 4 per cent to begin the process of going to 20 per cent.
“It should be done under IAEA supervision,” Salehi added.
Since the deal’s collapse, Iran has resumed enrichment at Fordo, near the Shiite holy city of Qom, about 90km southwest of Tehran.
Shielded by the mountains, Fordo is ringed by anti-aircraft guns and other fortifications. It is about the size of a football field, large enough to house 3000 centrifuges, but small and hardened enough to lead US officials to suspect it had a military purpose when they exposed the site publicly in 2009.
The 2015 deal saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. The accord also called for Fordo to be turned into a research-and-development facility.
Under Iran’s former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tehran began 20 per cent enrichment. Israel, which has its own undeclared nuclear weapons programme, feared Tehran was building a bomb.
After the discovery of Fordo, the US worked on so-called “bunker buster” bombs designed to strike such facilities. As Israel threatened at one point to bomb Iranian nuclear sites like Fordo, US officials reportedly showed them a video of a bunkerbuster bomb destroying amock-up of Fordo in America.
Israel, which under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to criticise Iran’s nuclear programme, offered no immediate comment.
As of now, Iran is enriching uranium up to 4.5 per cent, in violation of the accord’s limit of 3.67 per cent. Experts say Iran now has enough low-enriched uranium stockpiled for at least two nuclear weapons, if it chose to pursue them. Iran has always maintained its nuclear programme is peaceful.— AP