Iran starts its highest level ever of uranium enrichment
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran began enriching uranium Friday to its highest-ever purity there, which edges Tehran close to weapons-grade levels, attempting to pressure negotiators in Vienna amid talks on restoring its nuclear deal with world powers after an attack on its main enrichment site.
A top official said only a few grams an hour of uranium gas would be enriched up to 60 percent purity — triple the level Iran once did but at a quantity far lower than what the Islamic Republic could produce. Iran also is enriching at an aboveground facility at its Natanz nuclear site already visited by international inspectors, not deep within its underground halls hardened to withstand airstrikes.
The narrow scope of the new enrichment provides Iran with a way to quickly de-escalate if it chooses, experts say, but time is narrowing. An Iranian presidential election looms as Tehran already is threatening to limit international inspections. Israel, suspected of carrying out Sunday’s sabotage at Natanz, also could act again amid a longrunning shadow war between the two Middle East rivals.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, announced the higher enrichment on Twitter.
“The young and God-believing Iranian scientists managed to achieve a 60 percent enriched uranium product,” Qalibaf said. “I congratulate the brave nation of Islamic Iran on this success. The Iranian nation’s willpower is miraculous and can defuse any conspiracy.”
While 60 percent is higher than any level Iran previously enriched uranium, it is still lower than weaponsgrade levels of 90 percent. Iran had been enriching up to 20 percent — and even that was a short technical step to weapons-grade. The deal limited Iran’s enrichment to 3.67 percent.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iran’s nuclear program, did not respond to a request for comment.
Israel, which has twice bombed Mideast countries to stop their nuclear programs, plans to hold a meeting of its top security officials Sunday over the Iranian announcement. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi called Iran a threat while on a trip Friday to Cyprus.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, though the West and the IAEA say Tehran had an organized military nuclear program until the end of 2003. An annual U.S. intelligence report released Tuesday maintained the American assessment that “Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons development activities that we judge would be necessary to produce a nuclear device.”
The threat of higher enrichment by Iran already had drawn criticism from the U.S. and three European nations in the deal — France, Germany and the United Kingdom. On Friday, European Union spokesman Peter Stano called Iran’s decision “a very worrisome development.”
“There is no credible explanation or civilian justification for such an action on the side of Iran,” Stano said. The Vienna talks aim to “make sure that we go back from such steps that bring Iran further away from delivering on its commitments and obligations.”
Diplomats reconvened Friday in Vienna. After talks Thursday, Chinese negotiator Wang Qun called for doing “away with all disruptive factors by moving forward as swiftly as we can on the work of negotiations, especially by zeroing in on sanction lifting.”
The 2015 nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from in 2018, prevented Iran from stockpiling enough highly enriched uranium to be able to pursue a nuclear weapon, in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.