After attack, Iran says it will enrich uranium to 60%, highest level ever
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran will begin enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity after an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility, a negotiator said Tuesday, pushing its program to higher levels than ever before though still remaining short of weapons-grade.
The announcement marks a significant escalation after the sabotage that damaged centrifuges, suspected of having been carried out by Israel — and could inspire a further response from Israel amid a long-running shadow war between the nations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon and his country has twice preemptively bombed Mideast nations to stop their atomic programs.
Already earlier in the day, Iran’s foreign minister had warned that the weekend assault at Natanz could hurt ongoing negotiations over its tattered atomic deal with world powers. Those talks are aimed at finding a way for the U.S. to reenter the agreement, the goal of which is to limit Iran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for relief on sanctions.
Nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi, in Vienna to begin informal talks Tuesday night, made his announcement in English.
“We believe this round of negotiations is the time for the U.S. to present a list and I hope that I can go back to Tehran with the list of sanctions which should be lifted,” Araghchi told Iranian state television’s English-language arm Press TV. “Otherwise, it would be a waste of time.”
He said authorities would add another 1,000 “more-advanced” centrifuges to Natanz as well.
Iran had been enriching up to 20 percent — even that was a short technical step to weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. takes seriously Iran’s “provocative announcement,” saying it “calls into question Iran’s seriousness with regard to the nuclear talks and underscores the imperative of returning to mutual compliance” with the deal.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, though the West and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran had an organized military nuclear program up until the end of 2003. However, the nuclear deal prevented it from having enough of a uranium stockpile to be able to pursue a nuclear weapon.
A U.S. intelligence report released Tuesday maintained that “Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that we judge would be necessary to produce a nuclear device.”
The talks in Vienna are aimed at reviving America’s role in that agreement, which former President Donald Trump abandoned, and lifting sanctions he imposed.