The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said on Monday that Iran continues to enrich uranium beyond what is needed for commercial nuclear use, despite pressure from the United Nations to stop doing so.
After briefing EU foreign ministers on the issue, the UN director-general told Reuters that although the pace of uranium enrichment had slowed slightly since the end of last year, Iran was still enriching at a high rate of 7. Kilograms of uranium per month. 60% purity.
60% enrichment brings uranium close to weapons grade and is not necessary for commercial use in nuclear power generation.
Between June and November last year, Iran reduced the pace of uranium enrichment to 3 kilograms per month, but it rose again to a rate of 9 kilograms by the end of the year, the International Atomic Energy Agency previously reported.
The escalation came shortly after Tehran blocked a third of the agency's core inspection team, including senior experts in the agreed monitoring of the enrichment process.
“This cycle of decline and acceleration, to me, doesn't change the underlying trend, which is the continued increase in the availability of highly enriched uranium,” Grossi said.
He pointed out, “There is a worrisome rhetoric. You may have heard senior Iranian officials say recently that they have all the necessary components to make a nuclear weapon.”
Referring to tensions resulting from Israel's war on Gaza, he said the concern was heightened by what he described as the current conditions in the Middle East.
After a visit to Moscow and discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Iran and central affairs, Croci said he would travel to Tehran next month for the first time in a year to end the “difference” in the positions. East.
Iran denies having nuclear weapons, but no other country has produced them without enriching them to this extent, Reuters reported.
Under a 2015 deal with world powers, which is no longer in effect, Iran must enrich uranium to only 3.67%.
Iran abandoned the deal's nuclear restrictions after then-US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency warned by the end of 2023 that Tehran already has enough material to produce three nuclear bombs if uranium is enriched to more than 60%.
