VIENNA (AP) – Iran continues to build up its arsenal of low-enriched uranium well beyond the limits set in a historic nuclear deal with world powers and enriches it to a purity higher than allowed, the atomic watchdog of the United States said Wednesday. United Nations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries and noted through the Associated Press that Iran had an arsenal of 2,442. 9 kilograms (5,385. 7 pounds) of low-enriched uranium as of November 2, with 2105 , 4 kilograms (4641. 6 pounds). ) reported on August 25.
The nuclear agreement signed in 2015 with the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, China and Russia, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, allows Iran to maintain an inventory of 202. 8 kilograms (447 pounds).
The IAEA reported that Iran also continued to enrich uranium with a purity of up to 4. 5%, higher than the 3. 67% allowed under the agreement.
Iran has announced in advance all violations of the nuclear agreement, which followed the U. S. resolution to unilaterally withdraw in 2018.
The agreement promises economic incentives to Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. Since the withdrawal of the United States and the imposition of new sanctions, Tehran has pressured other parties to propose new tactics to compensate for Washington’s crippling actions.
At the same time, the Iranian government has continued to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to have complete nuclear facilities, one of the main reasons why the remaining JCPOA countries say it preserves value.
The goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, something the country insists has no purpose.
A widely cited investigation through the Washington-based Arms Control Association suggests that Iran now has more than double what it would like to build a nuclear weapon. However, IAEA CEO Rafael Grossi told The Associated Press in an interview last month that his company did not focus this assessment.
Before accepting the nuclear deal, Iran enriched its uranium to 20% purity, which is a small technical step away from the military grade of 90%. In 2013, Iran’s enriched uranium reserves already exceeded 7,000 kilograms (7. 72 tons) at the top enrichment level, but dropped a bomb.
In the quarterly report circulated to members Wednesday, the IAEA said it still had questions about last year’s discovery of artificial uranium debris at an outdoor site in Tehran that was not declared through Iran.
The United States and Israel had been urging the IAEA for some time to take a look at the Turquzabad facility, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described at the United Nations in 2018 as a “secret atomic warehouse. “
In the existing report, the IAEA stated that “the compositions of these isotopically changed debris” discovered were “similar to debris discovered in Iran in the past, from imported centrifuge components. ” He said he found Iran’s reaction to questions last month “was not satisfactory. ” . “
“Following an evaluation of this new information, the company informed Iran that it was continuing Iran’s reaction of not being technically credible,” the IAEA wrote this week. “A complete and quick explanation from IranArray is necessary . . . “.
_____
Rising reported from Berlin