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Iran has started the controversial increase in its uranium enrichment at the Fordo nuclear facility, south of the capital, Tehran.
18.18 clock, January 04, 2021
“The technical procedure for the enrichment of uranium to 20 percent started a few hours ago in Fordo,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on the government website Dolat on Monday. The International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA focused on the process and the new Atomic Energy Law, which includes an increase in uranium enrichment to 20 percent, has been notified. The IAEA itself stated that it had observed activities in Fordo and that it would inform the member states of the organization without delay.
The procedure is in line with the new Atomic Energy Law approved by Parliament. “The law must be implemented despite concerns within the government,” the spokesman said. Both the Iranian nuclear energy organization AEOI and President Hassan Rouhani are against the new nuclear law. However, according to the constitution, they must implement the laws passed in parliament.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif said on Twitter that the expansion of uranium enrichment to 20 percent is a reversible step and is in line with Section 36 of the Vienna Atomic Energy Agreement because the other contracting parties they have not complied with the agreements in recent years. “Our measures are fully reversible as soon as all commitments are fulfilled,” the Iranian chief diplomat tweeted.
From the EU’s point of view, further enrichment of uranium would be a clear violation of the 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement, as a spokesperson for the EU Foreign Affairs representative, Josep Borrell, said in Brussels on Monday. If Tehran’s announcements are implemented, there would be a “significant deviation from Iranian obligations” under the agreement. Any steps that may weaken the preservation of the agreement should be avoided. However, you decide and act on the basis of IAEA assessments.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Monday that his country will not allow the Islamic Republic to manufacture nuclear weapons. Iran’s decision, regardless of its commitments, to increase uranium enrichment and promote industrial capabilities for underground uranium enrichment can only be seen as further realization of its intention to develop a military nuclear program, Netanyahu said on Monday. . Israel sees its existence threatened by the nuclear and missile program of its arch enemy.
Meanwhile, the United States interrupted the planned withdrawal of its aircraft carrier “Nimitz” from the Persian Gulf. The carrier will remain in the Middle East, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said Sunday night (local time). “Due to recent threats by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other representatives of the US administration, I have directed the USS Nimitz to halt its routine withdrawal,” the minister said. “No one should question the determination of the United States of America.”
Miller had only ordered a few days before for the carrier to return to the United States. It was not clear what “threats” the Pentagon had to reverse. The carrier is normally flanked by a formation of escort ships during operations. According to the United States, more than 5,000 soldiers may be on board the ship.
In Iran, the nuclear law was approved by hardliners and government opponents in parliament in late November. According to this, AEOI will produce and store 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium per year, among other things. Politically sensitive is Iran’s withdrawal from the IAEA Additional Protocol, which would restrict or even prohibit UN inspectors from accessing Iranian nuclear facilities. The law violates the Vienna nuclear agreement in all respects, with which Iran should be excluded from a nuclear weapons program.
President Rouhani believes that the law is politically unwise and sees it in the context of an internal power struggle ahead of the June presidential elections. In his view, the law would jeopardize diplomatic efforts to salvage the 2015 Vienna nuclear deal after the election of US President Joe Biden took office.who will be sworn in on January 20. Current US President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in 2018. Tehran awaits the lifting of related US sanctions that plunged the country into the worst economic crisis in recent history.
