Iran continues to enrich uranium well beyond the needs for commercial nuclear use, despite UN pressure to stop it, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says, adding he wants to visit Tehran next month for the first time in a year to end the “drifting apart.”
Speaking to Reuters after he briefed EU foreign ministers on the subject, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog says that while the pace of uranium enrichment has slowed slightly since the end of last year, Iran is still enriching at an elevated rate of around 7 kilograms of uranium per month, to 60% purity.
Enrichment to 60% brings uranium close to weapons grade, and is not necessary for commercial use in nuclear power production. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but no other state has enriched to that level without producing them.
Under a defunct 2015 agreement with world powers, Iran could enrich uranium only to 3.67%. After then-president Donald Trump pulled the US out of that deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, Iran breached the original deal and moved well beyond the its nuclear restrictions.
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