The head of the UN atomic watchdog agency confirms reports that Iran has begun operating centrifuges installed at an underground site, but says they were moved from another facility so the country’s overall uranium-enriching capabilities have not increased.
Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, tells reporters in Vienna that the 174 centrifuges were moved into a new area of the Natanz nuclear site and had recently begun operating.
He says that operation of centrifuges of that type is in violation of the nuclear deal Iran had signed with world powers in 2015 — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA — but would not lead to a greater overall output of enriched uranium.
Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, speaks during a press conference during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters of the UN in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 18, 2020. (Christian Bruna/Pool Photo via AP)
Iran is already far past the deal’s limits on enriched uranium, he noted.
“It is already beyond the limits of the JCPOA but in general terms there is no significant increase in the volumes,” Grossi says. “So it’s a nuance.”
— AP
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