'Accident’ at Iran’s Natanz nuclear plant as new uranium enrichment starts

[Abdullah719]

Iran has ridiculed claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it is hiding a warehouse used to store prohibited nuclear technology.

Mr Netanyahu made what he called the revelation at the UN, producing a picture of the alleged secret site.

However, Iran's foreign minister dismissed the claim as an "arts and craft show" designed to conceal Israel's own nuclear programme.

Israel says Iran is seeking atomic weapons, a charge Iran denies.


What did Mr Netanyahu say?

The prime minister made Iran's nuclear activities the cornerstone of his speech at the annual UN General Assembly debate.

He criticised the global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), for failing to question Iran about tons of material Israel secretly obtained earlier this from a warehouse in Tehran. Israel it said proved Iran was lying about its nuclear intentions.

Mr Netanyahu said the IAEA's inactivity compelled him to publicly reveal the existence of another secret warehouse in Tehran, also used, he said, to store "massive amounts of equipment and material" related to nuclear weapons technology.

Iran has consistently denied pursuing nuclear weapons and as a signatory of the 1970 Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreed not to seek to develop or acquire such technology.

Producing an enlarge photograph of the exterior of a gated building, Mr Netanyahu said it was a "secret atomic warehouse", not far from the facility Israel publicised in April.

He said the newly-revealed site contained as much as 300 tons of nuclear-related equipment and material. Iran, he said, had been removing radioactive material from there since Israel's earlier disclosure, and distributing it across Tehran.

Mr Netanyahu said Iran "planned to use both of these sites in a few years when the time would be right to break out to the atom bomb".

He called on the IAEA to inspect the alleged atomic warehouse immediately.

Addressing Iran's leaders directly, Mr Netanyahu said: "Israel knows what you're doing, and Israel knows where you're doing it."

"Israel will never let a regime that calls for our destruction to develop nuclear weapons," he added.


How has Iran responded?

In a Tweet hours after Mr Netanyahu's presentation, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif treated Israel's claims with derision.

Earlier, a foreign ministry spokesman said "the world will laugh loudly at these types of theatrics and false and uncalculated statements".

He said that the IAEA had consistently verified that Iran had continually complied with the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions.


Why do Iran's nuclear activities matter?

The revelation of secret nuclear facilities in Iran in 2002 precipitated a long crisis over Iran's nuclear programme. It was only defused in 2015, when Iran and six global powers signed a deal, which its international backers said would prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in the future.

Israel was a chief critic of the deal, arguing that it was fundamentally flawed and only postponed Iran's ability to develop nuclear arms.

Donald Trump agreed and vowed to scrap the deal, which had been underpinned by his predecessor Barack Obama. The US announced its withdrawal in May this year and the reimposition of economic sanctions on Iran.

Iran has said it will not be bound by the deal if the other guarantors to do not stand by it.

Despite Iran's continual denial, Israel and the US say Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons and has secretly retained the technical know how to enable it to do so.

Iran rejects Israel's right to exist and has repeatedly called for the Jewish state's demise. Israel says nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran would pose an existential threat.


What about Israel's own nuclear programme?

Israel has never confirmed or denied that it possesses nuclear weapons, saying only that it would not be the first country to "introduce" nuclear weapons into the Middle East.

It is known to have a nuclear plant near the southern city of Dimona. In 1986, a technician from there revealed details of a secret nuclear stockpile.

Israel is estimated to have about 200 nuclear weapons.

Arab states and Iran have accused Israel of double standards by opposing nuclear weapons in other countries in the Middle East while having its own suspected arsenal.

Israel has consistently refused international inspections at its nuclear site, though it is not required to do so because it has not signed the NPT.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45676506

 

[IAJ]

What are the consequences of not signing NPT?

Maybe Iran should withdraw from it and do whatever they want. If Israel is having normal relations with other countries by not signing NPT, then Iran can also try to adapt same strategy.

 

[MenInG]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s defence minister said on Sunday it is not “necessarily” behind every mysterious incident in Iran, after a fire at the Natanz nuclear site prompted some Iranian officials to say it was the result of cyber sabotage.

Israel, widely believed to be the region’s only nuclear power, has pledged never to allow Iran to obtain atomic weapons, saying Tehran advocates its destruction. Iran denies ever seeking nuclear arms and says its atomic programme is peaceful.

The underground Natanz site, where a one-storey building was partly burned on Thursday, is the centrepiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Asked whether Israel had anything to do with “mysterious explosions” at Iranian nuclear sites, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said: “Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us.”

“All those systems are complex, they have very high safety constraints and I’m not sure they always know how to maintain them,” Gantz told Israel Radio.

Three Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters said they thought cyber sabotage had been involved at Natanz, but offered no evidence. Two said Israel could have been behind it.

An article by Iran’s state news agency IRNA addressed what it called the possibility of sabotage by enemies such as Israel and the United States, although it stopped short of accusing either directly.

In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz.

Last month, Israeli security cabinet minister Zeev Elkin said Iran had attempted to mount a cyber attack on Israel’s water system in April.

Iran curbed its nuclear work in exchange for removal of most global sanctions under a 2015 accord with six world powers. It has reduced compliance since the United States withdrew in 2018.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...all-iran-nuclear-site-incidents-idUSKBN246089

 

[MenInG]

Iranian officials have denied reports of an explosion west of the capital Tehran on Thursday, the latest in a series of mysterious blasts to hit the country in recent weeks.

Social media users reported hearing explosions in the nearby cities of Garmdareh and Qods, state media said.

It is not clear where the reported incident took place.

Key sites including nuclear facilities and oil refineries have been damaged in recent incidents.

In July Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation confirmed a fire took place at a nuclear plant in Natanz. The incident is reported to have set back Iran's nuclear programme.

Rumours of the latest incident began circulating online at around midnight on Thursday, according to reports by state-run IRIB news agency.

Locals reported hearing three or four mortar-like sounds similar to anti-aircraft weapons, reported government-run Press TV.

A small number of social media accounts claiming to be from Garmdareh reported hearing sounds, according to analysis by BBC News, but images of fire and damaged buildings circulating online were found to be old.

Qods governor Leila Vaseghi told government-run news agency IRNA that a short power outage occurred in the city but it was linked to a hospital.

The member of parliament for Qods also denied that an explosion happened in the city and said the power outages were related to the routine activities of the local power company.

The major of Garmdareh said the sound heard locally was an "explosion at a factory making gas cylinders", according to the New York Times.

What other incidents have taken place?
Since late June there have been several unexplained fires or blasts at sensitive sites:

26 June: Blast at a liquid fuel production facility for ballistic missiles in Khojir, close to Parchin, near Tehran; fire at power plant in Shiraz, causing a blackout
30 June: Explosion at a medical clinic in Tehran, 19 people killed
2 July: Blast and fire at Natanz nuclear site
3 July: Large fire in Shiraz
4 July: Explosion and fire in power plant in Ahwaz; chlorine gas leak at Karoun petrochemical plant in Mahshahr
The Supreme National Security of Iran says the cause of the explosion at Natanz nuclear site has been determined but cannot currently be announced due to security reasons.

Some Iranian officials told Reuters news agency that Israel is suspected of bombing the site.

When asked if Israel was behind the incident, Israel's foreign minister responded "our actions in Iran [are] better left unsaid".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-53362127

 

[sweep_shot]

There is one set of rules for Israel and another set of rules for all other countries.

Israel can do anything (including annexing illegal territories, developing nuclear weapon etc.) but Iran can't. Talk about double standard.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

There is one set of rules for Israel and another set of rules for all other countries.

Israel can do anything (including annexing illegal territories, developing nuclear weapon etc.) but Iran can't. Talk about double standard.

It's because the collective conscience of the leaders of Islamic states sums up to a grand total of zero. Corrupt to the core, busy in looting and plundering, and having no interest in creating Islamic states. The worst part is, half of them are involved in deep ties with countries that are actively carrying out genocide of Muslims.

 

[MenInG]

Iran now has more than 10 times the amount of enriched uranium permitted under an international agreement, the UN's nuclear watchdog says.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran's enriched uranium stockpile had reached 2,105kg (4,640lb) - well above the 300kg agreed in 2015.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes.

It comes after Iran gave IAEA inspectors access to one of two suspected former nuclear sites.

The agency said it would take samples at the second site later this month.

Last year, Iran began deliberately and publicly reneging on commitments it had made under the international nuclear accord, signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US.

This included the production of more enriched uranium than it was allowed - although only at enrichment levels far below that required for use in atomic weapons.

To manufacture a nuclear weapon, Iran would need to produce 1,050kg of 3.67% enriched uranium, but would then need to further enrich that to 90% or more, according to US-based advocacy group the Arms Control Association.

Low-enriched uranium - which has a concentration of between 3% and 5% of the fissile isotope U-235 - can be used to produce fuel for power plants. Weapons-grade uranium is 90% enriched or more.

Experts say the enrichment process could take a long time, if Tehran chose to do so.

Last week, Iran said it had agreed "in good faith" to let weapons inspectors access sites to resolve outstanding issues related to nuclear safeguards.

The IAEA had criticised Iran for not answering its questions about possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at the two locations, and denying it access.

In the latest statement, the global watchdog said Iran had "provided agency inspectors access to the location to take environmental samples".

"The samples will be analysed by laboratories that are part of the agency's network," it added.

Iran stopped abiding by a number of commitments last year in retaliation against US sanctions reinstated by President Donald Trump when he abandoned the deal.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-54033441

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

Saudi-Israel-Iran is the saas bahu serial of International politics. It's boring yet people are bound to keep an eye on it.

 

[MenInG]

Tehran, Iran – Iran has condemned a statement by three European powers expressing concern over its scaling back of commitments under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Ad
In a statement on Saturday, the Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesman called a statement by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – together known as the E3 – “irresponsible”.

Saeed Khatibzadeh called on the E3 to fulfil its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers that put curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of multilateral sanctions.

“The peaceful nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran are fully within the framework of international laws and completely legal and legitimate, and in line with countries’ intrinsic legal rights,” Khatibzadeh said in a statement.


The E3 said this week it remains committed to the nuclear deal, which the United States has tried to unravel since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in May 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran.

However, the three countries said they “continue to be extremely concerned by Iran’s actions, which are hollowing out the core nonproliferation benefits of the deal”.

After remaining committed to the nuclear deal for one year under new US sanctions, Iran started gradually scaling back its commitments in moves it said are quickly reversible.

But the European powers said they are concerned about Iran enriching uranium above the 3.67 percent threshold set in the nuclear deal, and its continued growth of a low-enriched uranium stockpile, now 12 times the JCPOA limit according to a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Contrary to the JCPOA, Iran is using advanced centrifuges for the production of low-enriched uranium,” the E3 said, adding Tehran is also enriching at Fordow, a facility that “has no credible civilian use”.

The E3 also expressed concern over Iranian research and development of several types of advanced centrifuges and feeding uranium hexafluoride to its IR2m cascade of centrifuges.

In his statement, Khatibzadeh said Iran is acting based on provisions of the nuclear deal in scaling back its commitments since the US exited the deal and Europe failed to deliver economic benefits promised after the lifting of multilateral sanctions.

“This is completely in line with the JCPOA and Iran has always stressed that if other parties fully implement the JCPOA, Iran’s nuclear steps are reversible,” he said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...g-nuclear-programme?__twitter_impression=true

 

[Firebat]

Iran vows to crush any Israeli attempt to hit its 'advisory' role in Syria

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran on Sunday vowed to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm its role in Syria, saying the era of “hit and run” attacks by Israel there was over, days after Israel carried out air strikes on Syrian army and Iranian paramilitary targets in the country.

Israel, which views Tehran as its biggest security threat, has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets and those of allied militia in Syria, where Tehran has backed President Bashar al-Assad and his forces against rebels and militants since 2012.

On Wednesday, an Israeli military spokesman said eight targets were attacked, including an Iranian headquarters at Damascus international airport and a “secret military site” that served as a “hosting facility for senior Iranian delegations when they come to Syria to operate”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khateebzadeh told a virtual weekly news conference: “The Zionist regime (Israel) is well aware that the era of hit and run is over and therefore they are very cautious.”

Iran denies having military forces in Syria and says it has sent commandos to the country as military advisers. Tehran says it will provide military advisers to Syria for as long as necessary.

“Iran’s presence in Syria is advisory and naturally if anyone disrupts this advisory presence, our response will be a crushing one,” Khatibzadeh said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said at least 10 people, including five Iranians from the Quds Force, a branch of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards responsible for operations outside of Iran’s own borders, were killed during the attack.

“I do not confirm the martyrdom of Iranian forces in Syria,” “Khatibzadeh said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-hit-its-advisory-role-in-syria-idUSKBN2820B3

 

[MenInG]

Tehran – Iran has resumed enriching 20 percent uranium at its underground Fordow nuclear facility, according to its government spokesman, in a move that further breaches terms of a landmark nuclear deal signed with world powers in 2015.

“A few hours ago the process to inject the gas began and the first UF6 enriched uranium product will be reached in a few more hours,” Ali Rabiei said.

Iran had informed the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it would soon begin enriching 20 percent uranium, which is higher than the current 4.5 percent level of enrichment, but still far below the 90 percent level that is considered weapons-grade.

The Islamic republic had previously committed to capping uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent as part of the nuclear deal.

It also agreed to ship most of its enriched uranium out of the country and allow no enrichment at Fordow, which was to be converted into a nuclear, physics and technology centre.

But exactly one year after United States President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal and imposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran, the country abandoned that limit.

Tehran has since maintained that its steps are completely and quickly reversible as soon as the US and Europe return to their own commitments under the deal.

Spokesman Rabiei reiterated on Monday that the government of moderate President Hassan Rouhani remains opposed to the move, but is bound by law to implement legislation approved by the parliament in December.

The hardline parliament’s bill, which was also greenlit by the constitutional vetting body the Guardian Council, obligates the government to increase uranium enrichment to 20 percent and leaves the door open for more enrichment.

It also calls for expelling inspectors of the IAEA, increasing its uranium stockpile, building advanced centrifuges and revitalising the Arak heavy water reactor, among other things.

The bill was approved in a matter of days after top nuclear and military scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in November. Iran believes Israel was behind the assassination.

‘Where should the money come from?’
Earlier this week, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, had said his organisation was ready to start 20 percent enrichment after informing the IAEA.

“We are the solider of the establishment and have our hands on the trigger. When the commander issues the order, we can do it very quickly,” Salehi said, adding he only awaits the government’s final go-ahead.

But Salehi had criticised the legislation that, among other things, obligates his organisation to build 1,000 next-generation IR6 centrifuges.

“Where should the money come from? If it’s local resources, then they either don’t know how much local resources we have or they don’t know how much IR-6 centrifuges cost,” he had said.

European signatories of the nuclear deal have also said the move to increase uranium enrichment further hurts the landmark deal, calling on the Iranian government to refrain from implementing it.

World powers party to the deal, however, renewed their commitment to it in a high-level virtual meeting chaired by the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in late December.

Regional tensions
The move to increase uranium enrichment also comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US one year after the US assassinated Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani.

Soleimani was travelling with a convoy of Iranians and Iraqis which the two countries maintain were on a diplomatic trip when they were hit by rockets fired from a US drone.

In what the US says is a show of force meant to deter Iran, it has flown B-52 strategic bombers in the region three times in the past month.

The US also on Monday reversed its decision to return Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to its base and said the reversal came because Iranian officials renewed their threats on Trump and other US officials.

US president-elect Joe Biden has promised to reverse Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran by returning to the nuclear deal and lifting sanctions. However, Biden and European powers have signalled that they want to extend talks to include Iran’s regional influence and missiles programme.

Iran has adamantly reiterated that those issues have never been on the negotiating table, including when the nuclear deal was being discussed, and will never be.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021...-20-percent-uranium-enrichment-at-fordow-site

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-israel-spy/iran-arrests-israeli-spy-others-in-touch-with-foreign-intelligence-iranian-media-idUSKBN2BS10U?il=0

Iran has arrested an “Israeli spy” and a number of other people who were in contact with foreign intelligence services, Iranian state media reported on Monday, without giving the nationality of those arrested.

“An Israeli spy has been arrested in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province ... also other spies who were in contact with several countries’ intelligence services have been arrested as well,” it quoted an Intelligence Ministry official as saying.

Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the report.

The Islamic Republic does not recognise Israel and has accused it of being behind acts of sabotage and assassinations of nuclear scientists.

An Iranian convicted of spying for U.S. and Israeli intelligence was executed in 2020.

Iran has blamed Israel for last year’s killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

Tehran has denied seeking to build a nuclear arsenal. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-enrichment/iran-has-produced-55-kg-of-20-enriched-uranium-since-january-official-idUSKBN2BU15N

Iran has made 55 kg of uranium enriched to up to 20% - the point at which it is highly enriched - indicating quicker production than the 10 kg a month rate required by an Iranian law that created the process in January, Iranian authorities said on Wednesday.

The disclosure comes a day after Tehran and Washington held what they described as “constructive” indirect talks in Vienna on Tuesday aimed at finding ways to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Iran’s hardline parliament passed a law last year that obliges the government to harden its nuclear stance, partly in reaction to former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018.

Trump’s withdrawal prompted Iran to steadily overstep the accord’s limits on its nuclear programme designed to make it harder to develop an atomic bomb - an ambition Tehran denies.

The law required Iran to start enriching to 20% and stipulated that at least 120 kg (265 pounds) of uranium refined to that level be made each year, which amounts to 10 kg a month.

Iran’s production rate is already “up to 40%” faster than that, Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi indicated.

“In less than four months we have produced 55 kg of 20% enriched uranium ... in around eight months we can reach 120 kg,” Kamalvandi told state TV.

Uranium is considered highly enriched as of 20%. Enriching to 20% is a big step towards enriching to weapons-grade.

A quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear activities by the U.N. nuclear watchdog in February said that as of Feb. 16, Iran had produced 17.6 kg of uranium enriched up to 20%, with the next level down being enriched between 2%-5%.

A senior diplomat said at the time that Iran was producing uranium enriched to 20% at a rate of 15 kg per month.

As part of a recent acceleration of its breaches of the nuclear deal, in January Iran began enriching uranium to 20% at Fordow, an underground uranium enrichment site that was built in secret inside a mountain possibly to withstand any aerial bombardment.

Under the deal, Tehran is not allowed to enrich uranium at Fordow at all.

Until January, Iran had not enriched beyond 4.5% purity - above the deal’s limit of 3.67% but still far below the 20% it achieved before the deal, or the 90% that is weapons-grade.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear/iran-launches-advanced-uranium-enriching-machines-to-mark-nuclear-day-idUSKBN2BX09K?il=0

President Hassan Rouhani reiterated Iran’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation on Saturday while overseeing the launch of advanced centrifuges at the underground Natanz nuclear plant to mark National Nuclear Technology Day.

Iran has breached many restrictions imposed by a 2015 deal on its atomic activities in response to former president Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal in 2018. The two nations have laid out tough stances at indirect talks in Vienna this week on how to bring both back into full compliance with the accord.

A live video link carried on state TV showed Rouhani ordering the injection of uranium gas into 164 IR-6 centrifuges, 30 IR-5 centrifuges, and mechanical tests on IR-9 machines with the capacity of 50 early IR-1 machines - a likely new breach of the nuclear deal.

The ceremony unveiled 133 advances over the past year in the country’s nuclear industry mostly in the fields of medicine, power, agricultural and energy, state television said.

“Once again, I stress that all our nuclear activities are peaceful and for non-military purposes,” Rouhani said in televised remarks.

“We continue to be committed to our pledge to NPT (non-proliferation treaty) and to the world not to deviate militarily from our nuclear programme,” Rouhani said.

The talks in Vienna, in which European Union officials are shuttling between the remaining parties to the deal and the United States, aim to restore the bargain at the core of the agreement - restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of U.S. and other international sanctions.

The United States was the first to renege on that bargain under Trump, who vehemently opposed the deal and sought to wreck it. He pulled out, reimposed the sanctions that were lifted, and brought in many more. Iran responded by breaching many of the nuclear restrictions.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/11/accident-at-irans-natanz-nuclear-plant-as-new-uranium-enrichment-starts

A spokesman for Iran’s civilian nuclear programme said an “accident” struck the electrical distribution grid of the Natanz nuclear facility, a day after the government announced it was starting up new uranium enrichment centrifuges.

Behrouz Kamalvandi announced the accident on Sunday, saying there were no injuries and no pollution. A mysterious explosion in July 2020 damaged Natanz’s advanced centrifuge facility, with Iran later calling the incident sabotage.

Iran had announced on Saturday that it had started up advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at Natanz, in a breach of its undertakings under the 2015 nuclear deal, days after the start of talks on rescuing the accord. The US had said on Friday that it had offered “very serious” ideas on reviving the hobbled agreement but was waiting for Tehran to reciprocate, something Saturday’s move signally failed to do.

President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated a cascade of 164 IR-6 centrifuges for producing enriched uranium, as well as two test cascades – 30 each of IR-5 and IR-6S models – at Natanz. The ceremony was broadcast by state television.

State TV aired no images of the injection of uranium hexafluoride gas into the cascades, but broadcast a link with engineers at the plant who said they had started the process and showed rows of centrifuges.

Rouhani also launched tests on the “mechanical stability” of its latest-generation IR-9 centrifuges, and remotely opened a centrifuge assembly factory to replace a plant that was badly damaged in last July’s “terrorist” blast.

The IR-9 centrifuge, when operational, would have the ability to separate uranium isotopes more quickly than the current centrifuges being used, thereby enriching uranium at a faster pace.

Under the 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers, Iran is only allowed to use “first-generation” IR-1 centrifuges for production, and to test a limited number of IR-4 and IR-5 devices.

Since January, Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 20% purity has grown to 55kg, moving the country closed to weapons-grade levels.

Israel claims Iran still maintains the ambition of developing nuclear weapons, pointing to Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and other research.

Tehran denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons and says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. Iran has blamed Israel for recent attacks, including the explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility as well as another one in November that killed top scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Natanz was first targeted in 2007 by a cyber-warfare campaign known as Olympic Games that included the use of the Stuxnet computer virus, which scrambled code and led to the destruction of hundreds of centrifuges, among other damage. Israel and the US were thought to be the architects of the operation.

The US unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump, who reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, which responded by stepping back from several of its commitments under the deal.

Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has said he is prepared to return, arguing the deal had – until Washington’s withdrawal – been successful in dramatically scaling back Iran’s nuclear activities. Iran’s latest move to step up uranium enrichment follows talks in Vienna with representatives of the remaining parties to the deal on bringing the US back into it.

The Vienna talks are focused not only on lifting the sanctions Trump reimposed, but also on bringing Iran back into compliance.

All sides said the talks – in which Washington is not participating directly but relying on the European Union as an intermediary – got off to a good start.

Iran has demanded that the US first lift all sanctions imposed by Trump, including a sweeping unilateral ban on its oil exports, before it falls back in line.

“The US – which caused this crisis – should return to full compliance first,” the foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, adding that “Iran will reciprocate following rapid verification”.

“The United States team put forward a very serious idea and demonstrated a seriousness of purpose on coming back into compliance if Iran comes back into compliance,” a US official told reporters as talks broke for the weekend.

But the official said the US was waiting for its efforts to be “reciprocated” by Iran.

The US official indicated the major stumbling block in the initial talks was not the order of compliance but rather which sanctions were under discussion, as Iran is demanding an end to all US restrictions.

 

[MenInG]

Tehran: Iran's atomic energy organisation said Sunday the Natanz nuclear facility was hit by a terrorist act, hours after it said an "accident" had caused a power failure there.

The episode came a day after the Islamic republic said it had started up advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at the site, in a breach of its commitments under a troubled 2015 deal with world powers.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Iran Atomic Energy Organisation (IAEO), condemned a "futile" act, while urging the international community to "confront this anti-nuclear terrorism", in a statement carried by state television.

The attack was carried out by "opponents of the country's industrial and political progress, who aim to prevent development of a thriving nuclear industry," he said, without specifying what country or entity might be behind the alleged sabotage.

IAEO spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi had earlier reported an accident at the enrichment facility caused by a "power failure". No-one was injured and there was no radioactive release, the official Fars news agency reported, citing the spokesman.

Kamalvandi said there had been "an accident in part of the electrical circuit of the enrichment facility" at the Natanz complex near Tehran.

"The causes of the accident are under investigation and more details will be released later," he added, before the later statement put out by the agency's chief.

He did not say whether power was cut only in the enrichment facility or across other installations at the site.

Malek Chariati, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's energy commission, took to Twitter to allege sabotage.

"This incident, coming (the day after) National Nuclear Technology Day, as Iran endeavours to press the West into lifting sanctions, is strongly suspected to be sabotage or infiltration," Chariati said.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had on Saturday inaugurated a cascade of centrifuges for enriching uranium and two test cascades at Natanz, in a ceremony broadcast by state television.

An Israeli public broadcast journalist, Amichai Stein, said on Twitter "the assessment is that the fault" at Natanz is the "result of an Israeli cyber operation", without elaborating or providing evidence to corroborate his claim.

- 'Terrorist sabotage' -

Iran's president had on Saturday also inaugurated a replacement factory at Natanz, after an explosion at a facility making advanced centrifuges there last July.

Iranian authorities likewise blamed the July incident on "sabotage" by "terrorists", but have not released the results of their investigation into it.

The equipment inaugurated Saturday enables quicker enrichment of uranium and in higher quantities, to levels that violate Iran's commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal it agreed with the five permanent United Nations Security Council powers, plus Germany.

The administration of then-US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from this multilateral nuclear accord in 2018 and re-imposed biting sanctions on Iran.

Iran later responded by progressively rolling back its own commitments under the agreement.

Trump's successor Joe Biden has said he is prepared to return to the deal, arguing it had -- until Washington's withdrawal -- been successful in dramatically scaling back Iran's nuclear activities.

Iran's latest move to step up uranium enrichment follows an opening round of talks in Vienna Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the nuclear deal on bringing the US back into it.

The Vienna talks are focused not only on lifting the crippling economic sanctions Trump reimposed, but also on bringing Iran back into compliance.

Iran's nemesis Israel has always been implacably opposed to the 2015 accord.

In November last year, Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by machine gun fire while travelling on a highway outside Tehran.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said a satellite-controlled gun with "artificial intelligence" was used in the attack, which Tehran blamed on Israel.

Uranium enrichment can produce the fuel for a nuclear reactor, or in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atomic warhead. It is one of the most sensitive nuclear activities carried out by Iran.

Rouhani had again underlined at Saturday's ceremony that Tehran's nuclear programme is solely for "peaceful" purposes.

https://www.timesnownews.com/intern...clear-facility-hit-by-act-of-terrorism/743883

 

[MenInG]

Iran on Monday blamed Israel for a sabotage attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged the centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium there, warning that it would take revenge for the assault.

The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh represent the first official accusation levelled against Israel for the incident on Sunday that cut power across the facility.

Israel has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion fell immediately on it as Israeli media widely reported that a devastating cyberattack orchestrated by Israel caused the blackout.

If Israel was responsible, it would further heighten tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met on Sunday with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, has vowed to do everything in his power to stop the nuclear deal.

Details remained scarce about what happened early on Sunday at the facility. The event was initially described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding its above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls.

“The answer for Natanz is to take revenge against Israel,” Khatibzadeh said. “Israel will receive its answer through its own path.” He did not elaborate.

Khatibzadeh acknowledged that IR-1 centrifuges, the first-generation workhorse of Iran’s uranium enrichment, had been damaged in the attack, but did not elaborate. State television has yet to show images from the facility.

A former chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said the attack had also set off a fire at the site and called for improvements in security at Natanz. In a tweet, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei said that a second fire at Natanz in a year signalled “the seriousness of the infiltration phenomenon.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif separately warned that Natanz would be reconstructed with more advanced machines, something that could imperil ongoing talks in Vienna with world powers about saving Tehran’s tattered atomic accord.

“The Zionists wanted to take revenge against the Iranian people for their success on the path of lifting sanctions,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Zairf as saying. “But we do not allow (it) and we will take revenge for this action against the Zionists.”

The IAEA, the United Nations body that monitors Tehran’s atomic program, earlier said it was aware of media reports about the incident at Natanz and had spoken with Iranian officials about it. The agency did not elaborate.

Natanz has been targeted by sabotage in the past. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges at Natanz during an earlier period of Western fears about Tehran’s programme.

In July, Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran is now rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain. Iran also blamed Israel for the November killing of a scientist who began the country’s military nuclear program decades earlier.

Media reports
Multiple Israeli media outlets reported on Sunday that an Israeli cyberattack caused the blackout in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said the Mossad was behind the attack. Channel 12 TV cited “experts” as estimating the attack shut down entire sections of the facility.

While the reports offered no sourcing for their information, Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the country’s military and intelligence agencies.

“It’s hard for me to believe it’s a coincidence,” Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies, said of the blackout. “If it’s not a coincidence, and that’s a big if, someone is trying to send a message that ‘we can limit Iran’s advance and we have red lines'.”

It also sends a message that Iran’s most sensitive nuclear site is penetrable, he added.

Netanyahu, on late Sunday, toasted his security chiefs, with the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, at his side on the eve of his country’s Independence Day.

“It is very difficult to explain what we have accomplished,” Netanyahu said of Israel’s history, saying the country had been transformed from a position of weakness into a “world power".

Israel typically doesn’t discuss operations carried out by its Mossad intelligence agency or specialised military units. In recent weeks, Netanyahu has repeatedly described Iran as the major threat to his country as he struggles to hold onto power after multiple elections and while facing corruption charges.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-natanz/israel-made-a-very-bad-gamble-by-sabotaging-iranian-nuclear-site-zarif-idUSKBN2C00OU

Iran’s top diplomat said on Tuesday that an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility which it blames on Israel was a “very bad gamble” that would strengthen Tehran’s hand in talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers. Tehran has said an explosion on Sunday at its key nuclear site was an act of sabotage by arch-foe Israel and vowed revenge for an attack that appeared to be latest episode in a long-running covert war. Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognise, has not formally commented on the incident.

“Israel played a very bad gamble if it thought that the attack will weaken Iran’s hand in the nuclear talks,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart in Tehran.

“On the contrary, it will strengthen our position.”

Iran and the global powers held what they described as constructive talks last week to salvage the 2015 nuclear accord, which Israel fiercely opposed.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, which lifted economic sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear program. He reimposed U.S. sanctions, prompting Iran in turn to violate the accord’s atomic limits.

U.S. President Joe Biden has said Tehran must resume full compliance with restrictions on its nuclear activity under the deal before Washington can rejoin the pact.

Iran and remaining parties to the deal will resume talks in Vienna on Wednesday.

Washington has suggested that it might be willing to ease some sanctions on Iran beyond those whose removal was mandated by the original nuclear deal. But Iran insists that all sanctions should be lifted at once.

“The United States should know that neither sanctions nor sabotage will give them the means to negotiate, and that they will only make the situation more difficult for them,” Zarif said.

The White House said on Monday the United States was not involved in Sunday’s attack and had no comment on speculation about the cause of the incident.

“Sunday’s sabotage occurred in a power cable duct leading to the centrifuge machines. This was not an external attack and the location of the sabotage has been clearly determined,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei was quoted by state media as saying.

Rabiei appeared to be referring to a person the Iranian authorities have said caused the electricity outage at Natanz and whose arrest is being sought. Rabiei said the damage caused could be quickly repaired.

Iranian authorities say uranium enrichment has not stopped at the site.

“What happened in Natanz makes it possible for Iran to legally do whatever it takes to ... compensate for this terrorist stupidity,” said Zarif. “I assure you that in near future, the Natanz site will move forward with more advanced centrifuges.”

 

[MenInG]

Thousands of machines used to refine nuclear material were destroyed or damaged in an attack at a key site on Sunday, an Iranian official has said.

Alireza Zakani, head of the Iranian parliament's Research Centre, said the incident had "eliminated" Iran's ability to carry out the process.

The attack took place in a facility up to 50m (165ft) underground, another official said.

Iran has blamed Israel for what it called an act of "nuclear terrorism".

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement, but Israel public radio cited intelligence sources as saying it was a Mossad cyber-operation.

Iran says it will replace the affected centrifuges - machines used to refine, or enrich, the chemical element uranium for use in nuclear energy or potentially nuclear bombs - with more advanced ones.

It also announced on Wednesday that it would greatly increase the quality of enrichment - from 20% to 60% purity. Enriching to either level is prohibited under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, and while 60% is significantly closer to the 90% required for a nuclear weapon, it is still some way off.

Meanwhile, Israeli and Arab media reports say an Israeli-owned vessel has been damaged in an attack off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Unnamed officials quoted by Israel's Channel 12 TV blamed Iran for the strike on the Hyperion Ray. If confirmed, it would be the latest in a series of alleged ***-for-tat attacks on Israeli and Iranian vessels.

Iran had initially acknowledged that centrifuges were damaged, but without elaborating.

However, speaking on state-run Ofoq TV channel, Mr Zakani said the damage was extensive.

"Is it normal that today they reach a pit of our electricity system and take actions so that several thousand centrifuges are damaged and destroyed in one instant?" he asked.

"Should not we be sensitive over the incident that happened [on Sunday], eliminating the main part of our enrichment capacities?"

So a deal was struck: In 2015, Iran and six other countries reached a major agreement. Iran would stop some nuclear work in return for an end to harsh penalties, or sanctions, hurting its economy.
What is the problem now? Iran re-started banned nuclear work after former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran. Even though new leader Joe Biden wants to rejoin, both sides say the other must make the first move.

The issue of Iran's centrifuges is particularly controversial. If enriched to a very high level - which Iran says it is not doing - in the machines, uranium can be used in nuclear bombs. Iran says its centrifuges are enriching uranium only to levels of purity usable for civilian purposes, such as nuclear fuel, agriculture or medicine.

Iran had activated more advanced centrifuges - barred under the 2015 deal - at Natanz, one day before the site was hit by the blast.

US intelligence officials told the New York Times that a large explosion had completely destroyed the independent internal power system that supplied the centrifuges inside the underground facility. They estimated it could take at least nine months to resume enrichment there.

Iran's nuclear programme: What's been happening at its key nuclear sites?
Video captionIran's nuclear programme: What's been happening at its key nuclear sites?
Separately, the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation has revealed that a blast which hit Natanz in July 2020 was caused by explosives hidden inside a table.

Fereydun Abbasi-Davani told state TV the perpetrators "amended the explosive [in the table] and sealed it, using, perhaps, resin or welding the steel" before managing to get it past security staff.

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said his country would "take revenge" for Sunday's attack, implicitly blaming Israel.

Iran's Nour News agency, which is affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council, cited an intelligence ministry source as saying the "main perpetrator" had been identified and an operation was under way to arrest them.

Israel has recently stepped up its warnings about Iran's nuclear programme amid efforts to revive the nuclear deal that was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump.

His successor, Joe Biden, has said he wants to return to the landmark accord. But Iran and the five other world powers still party to it - China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK - need to find a way for him to lift US sanctions and for Iran to return to the agreed limits on its nuclear programme.

Map showing location of underground enrichment sites and July 2020 fire at Natanz uranium enrichment plant, Iran

Iran, which insists it does not want nuclear weapons, has retaliated against the sanctions reinstated by the Trump administration by rolling back key commitments under the deal.

US and Iranian officials are holding indirect talks in the Austrian capital, Vienna, to try to break the impasse, with European officials acting as intermediaries.

BBC

 

[rhony]

Trump's policy was right against Iran. Biden is going to mess it up again forcing Israel to take action. Iran cannot be trusted with nuclear power. We already have a lunatic in North Korea threatening the world.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Iran almost ready to start enriching uranium to 60% purity - IAEA

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-iaea/iran-almost-ready-to-start-enriching-uranium-to-60-purity-iaea-idUSKBN2C12JN?il=0

Iran is almost ready to start enriching uranium to 60% purity at an above-ground plant at Natanz and plans to add 1,024 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges to an underground plant Tehran says was hit by sabotage, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Wednesday.

Iran has said it will enrich uranium to 60% - a big step closer to the 90% that is weapons-grade from the 20% maximum it has reached so far - in response to what it says was an act of sabotage by Israel against the underground plant.

“The Agency today verified that Iran had almost completed preparations to start producing UF6 enriched up to 60% U-235 at the Natanz Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP),” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement, referring to uranium hexafluoride, the form in which uranium is fed into centrifuges for enrichment.

Iran’s nuclear deal with major powers only lets Tehran enrich uranium to up to 3.67% purity, one of many limits that it breached more than a year ago in response to Washington’s withdrawal from the deal under President Donald Trump and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

The deal also says Iran can only produce enriched uranium with up to 5,060 IR-1 centrifuges at its underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz. While it has broken that rule by adding more advanced centrifuges to the FEP, until now it has stuck to the limit on the number of IR-1 machines there.

“In a report issued to Member States today ... Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Iran had informed the Agency ... that the country intends to install six additional cascades of IR-1 centrifuges at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) comprising a total of 1,024 centrifuges,” the IAEA said.

That report, one of two issued on Wednesday evening and obtained by Reuters, added: “Iran intends to use 6,084 IR-1 centrifuges installed in 36 cascades (in total at the FEP).”

The United States and Iran will reconvene indirect talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal on Thursday in Vienna, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-state-tv-identifies-man-it-says-was-behind-blast-natanz-nuclear-site-2021-04-17/

Iran on Saturday named a man it wants arrested in connection with a recent explosion and power outage at its main Natanz nuclear plant, as talks got underway in Vienna to try to save Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

"Reza Karimi, the perpetrator of this sabotage... has been identified" by Iran's intelligence ministry, state TV said. It said the suspect had fled Iran before last Sunday’s blast that the Islamic Republic has blamed on arch-foe Israel.

Officials from the remaining parties to Iran's nuclear deal began a formal meeting in Vienna, suggesting that this round of talks which began on Thursday was wrapping up.

The television showed what it said was a photograph of the suspected perpetrator on a red card that had "Interpol Wanted" written on it. The card listed his age as 43.

"Necessary steps are underway for his arrest and return to the country through legal channels," the report added.

State TV also aired footage of rows of what it said were centrifuges which had replaced the ones damaged in the blast at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

It added that "a large number" of centrifuges whose enrichment activity was disrupted by the explosion had been returned to normal service, the report said.

Iran and global powers are meeting in Vienna to try to rescue the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Washington three years ago. The talks are potentially complicated by Tehran’s decision to ramp up uranium enrichment and what it called Israeli sabotage at the Natanz nuclear site. read more

Meanwhile a source, echoing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s stance, reiterated Iran's demand for the removal of all sanctions imposed under former President Donald Trump.

"In Tehran, nothing will be accepted but the removal of all sanctions, including those related to the JCPOA (nuclear accord), reimposed and relabeled during the Trump era," the unnamed source told Iran’s state-run Press TV.

Israeli media outlets have quoted unnamed intelligence sources as saying the country's Mossad spy service carried out the Natanz sabotage operation. Israel - widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with a nuclear arsenal - has not formally commented on the incident.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-cuts-number-centrifuges-enriching-uranium-60-purity-iaea-report-says-2021-04-22/

Iran has reduced the number of centrifuges enriching uranium to up to 60% purity at an above-ground plant at Natanz to one cluster from two, a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog seen by Reuters indicated on Thursday.

Iran announced the shift to 60%, a big step towards weapons-grade from the 20% it had previously achieved, in response to an explosion and power cut at Natanz last week that Tehran has blamed on Israel.

Iran's move complicated the current indirect talks with the United States on rescuing its nuclear deal with major powers. Washington pulled out and reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 under President Donald Trump; Iran responded as of 2019 by breaching the deal's restrictions on its nuclear activities.

"On 21 April 2021, the Agency verified that Iran had changed the mode by which it was producing UF6 enriched up to 60% U-235 at PFEP," the report said, referring to the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz and to uranium hexafluoride, the form in which uranium is fed into centrifuges for enrichment.

Iran was now using one cascade, or cluster, of IR-6 centrifuges to enrich to up to 60% and feeding the tails, or depleted uranium, from that process into a cascade of IR-4 machines to enrich to up to 20%, the report said. The IR-4 cascade was previously being used to enrich to up to 60%.

The International Atomic Energy Agency report did not say why Iran had made the change or say how many centrifuges are in each cascade. A previous report in February said there were 119 centrifuges in the IR-4 cascade and 133 in the IR-6 one.

The deal lets Iran produce enriched uranium but only at an underground plant at Natanz and only with first-generation IR-1 machines, which are far less efficient. It also caps the purity to which Iran can enrich uranium at 3.67%.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-it-produced-65-kg-uranium-enriched-60-2021-06-15/

Iran has made 6.5 kg (14 lb) of uranium enriched to up to 60%, the government said on Tuesday, detailing a move that rattled the country's nuclear talks with world powers by taking the fissile material a step towards nuclear weapons-grade of 90%.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei was quoted by state media as saying the country had also produced 108 kg of uranium enriched to 20% purity, indicating quicker output than the rate required by the Iranian law that created the process.

Iran said in April it would begin enriching uranium to 60% purity, a move that would take the uranium much closer to the 90% suitable for a nuclear bomb, after Tehran accused arch-foe Israel of sabotaging a key nuclear site. Tuesday's disclosure came as Tehran and Washington hold indirect talks in Vienna aimed at finding ways to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Iran’s hardline parliament passed a law last year to oblige the government to harden its nuclear stance, partly in reaction to former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018.

Trump’s withdrawal prompted Iran to steadily overstep the accord’s limits on its nuclear programme designed to make it harder to develop an atomic bomb - an ambition Tehran denies.

"Under parliament's law..., the Atomic Energy Organization was supposed to produce 120 kg of 20 percent enriched uranium in a year. According to the latest report, we now have produced 108 kg of 20% uranium in the past five months," Rabiei was quoted as saying.

"In the area of 60% uranium production, in the short time that has elapsed..., about 6.5 kg has been produced," Rabiei added.

A quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear activities by the U.N. nuclear watchdog in May said that, as of May 22, Tehran had produced 62.8 kg of uranium enriched up to 20%, and 2.4 kg of uranium enriched up to 60%, with the next level down being enriched to between 2% and 5%.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-concern-over-its-enriched-uranium-metal-process-is-unnecessary-2021-07-07/

Iran's decision to produce uranium metal enriched to 20% purity is solely for peaceful purposes, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran will reverse its nuclear steps as soon as U.S. sanctions are lifted.

"Contrary to the claims of the United States and the European powers ... this measure is solely for peaceful purposes and it is for use at Tehran Research Reactor," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh, according to Iranian state media.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday that Iran had started the process of producing enriched uranium metal. Tehran said it had informed the agency about its decision.

Iran's move drew criticism from the United States and three European powers that have been in talks with Tehran since early April to revive a 2015 deal under which Iran accepted curbs to its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

Washington exited the agreement three years ago, and Iran has responded by gradually breaching its restrictions.

"This measure does not contradict Iran's non-proliferation and safeguarding obligations under the 2015 deal ... and Tehran is prepared to reverse its steps when sanctions are lifted," Khatibzadeh said.

U.S. and European officials made clear on Tuesday that Iran's decision would complicate, and potentially torpedo, indirect U.S.-Iranian talks aimed at bringing back Tehran and Washington into full compliance with the pact.

Tehran has already produced a small amount of uranium metal this year that was not enriched. That is a breach of the deal, which bans all work on uranium metal since it can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb. Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons.