Iran: 84 percent uranium purity claim is ‘conspiracy’

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian state television on Friday offered an extended defense against an accusation attributed to international inspectors that it enriched uranium to 84 percent purity, with an official calling it part of a “conspiracy” against Tehran amid tensions over its nuclear program.

The comments by Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran’s civilian nuclear program, sought to portray any detection of uranium particles enriched to that level as a momentary side effect of trying to reach a finished product of 60 percent purity — which Tehran already has announced it is producing.

However, uranium at 84 percent is nearly at weapons-grade levels of 90 percent — meaning any stockpile of that material could be quickly used to produce an atomic bomb if Iran chooses. Tehran has long insisted its program is for peaceful purposes, though the International Atomic Energy Agency, Western intelligence agencies and nonproliferation experts say Iran pursued a secret nuclear weapons program up until 2003.

The allegation that IAEA inspectors found 84 percent enriched uranium threatens to further escalate tensions between Iran and the West. Already, Israel’s recently reinstalled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened military actions against Tehran. Meanwhile, Iran faced continued unrest Friday amid months of protests.

Bloomberg first reported Sunday that inspectors had detected uranium particles enriched up to 84 percent. The IAEA, a United Nations nuclear agency based in Vienna, has not denied the report.

In an interview with Iranian state television’s English-language arm, Press TV, on Friday, Kamalvandi dismissed what inspectors may have found.