Tehran unveils plan to increase uranium purity

Iran has told the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog it plans to enrich uranium to 20 per cent purity, a level it achieved before its 2015 accord, the agency said Friday.

The move is the latest of several recent announcements by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to further breach the deal, which it started violating in 2019 in retaliation for Washington’s withdrawal from the pact and the reimposition of U. S. sanctions against Tehran.

This step was one of many mentioned in a law passed by Iran’s parliament last month in response to the killing of the country’s top nuclear scientist, which Tehran has blamed on Israel. Such moves could complicate U. S. efforts to rejoin the deal.