Kanaani: Iran informed IAEA of 60% enrichment last year
The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry says no new changes were introduced to the Fordow facility as claimed by some Western countries.
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Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani
Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) late last year that it will increase the enrichment of Uranium at Fordow to 60%, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Sunday.
His comment came in response to a statement made earlier by the United States, France, Germany, and the UK regarding the purity of the Uranium at Iran's Fordow facility, claiming that Tehran made an "unnotified change" to the facility's devices.
The Western countries further claimed that the alleged change "is inconsistent with Iran's obligations under its NPT-required Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement."
Read more: Iran nuclear deal is not our focus right now: White House
The IAEA also claimed on Wednesday that its inspectors discovered a change to an interconnection between two clusters of centrifuges that differed significantly from what Iran had stated to the agency.
Kanaani noted that in the January 2023 inspection, no new measures occurred in the facility contradictory to the November 2022 questionnaires which require Iran to notify the agency.
The alleged change was discovered by the IAEA on January 21 at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, where inspectors are currently expediting inspections after Iran announced that it was drastically increasing enrichment.
In response to an IAEA anti-Iran resolution drafted and pushed by the US and EU, Iran announced in November that it initiated enriching uranium at the Fordow nuclear power plant at a 60% purity level.
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said on Thursday that Iran contacted the agency on Thursday and informed it [IAEA] that the mistake was actually in a faulty report submitted by one of the agency's inspectors during an unannounced visit to the facility.
"The agency’s position is regrettable," said Eslami, adding, "We immediately provided the [due] explanation [to the IAEA]…the agency’s inspector found out that they had made a mistake."
On Saturday Eslami further stressed that “this behavior is unprofessional and is unacceptable and we hope that the agency’s director general stops such practices because this is not acceptable for his and the agency’s credibility."
While the IAEA's eyes are solely on Iran, the latter has constantly warned that the Israeli advanced nuclear program poses a serious threat to international security and stability. Concurrently, Russia has repeatedly raised a red flag regarding the consequences if Ukraine uses the "dirty bomb".
