Iran Can Resume 20% Uranium Enrichment in 4 Days: Nuclear Chief
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran can restart the process of enriching uranium to a purity level of 20 percent in only four days, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet session on Wednesday, Salehi said Iran can resume its pre-JCPOA activities in a moment if necessary.
He stressed that Tehran will be able to begin 20 percent uranium enrichment in only four days.
His comments came after Iran’s Supreme National Security Council announced that Tehran will stop honoring certain commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, which had already been scrapped by the US.
At a cabinet session on Wednesday morning, President Hassan Rouhani said the five remaining parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany- have been informed of Tehran’s decision to refuse to continue honoring two commitments under the deal.
He said Iran stops selling any enriched uranium above the 300-kg limit in exchange for yellow cake and also stops selling its heavy water above the limit of 130 tons.
The president also announced that the JCPOA parties will have 60 days to come to the negotiating table and fulfill Iran’s main interests under the nuclear deal, especially regarding oil sales and banking interaction.
If Iran does not achieve the desired results after 60 days, it will take two more measures and stop observing the limit on uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent purity, he added.
The president said Iran will also make a new decision about its Arak heavy water reactor –which was planned to be renovated with the participation of the JCPOA parties- after the 60-day deadline.
Rouhani also threatened that Iran will take a “decisive measure” if the JCPOA parties would intend to send Iran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council.
“We will not start breaching commitments and waging any war, but we will not give in to bullying, either, and will give a decisive response to any aggressor,” the president underlined.
Iran’s announcement comes a year after US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the agreement, which was signed in 2015.