Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stockpile Exceeds 360kg: AEOI
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said the country’s enriched uranium stockpile has reached 360 to 370 kilograms.
Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to construct a national nuclear research center in Fordow on Tuesday, Kamalvandi pointed to the country’s latest peaceful nuclear activities and said when the AEOI increased the level of uranium enrichment to a higher purity than 3.67%, it sought to meet the county’s needs.
“We are currently producing (enriched uranium) at a good capacity, and our stockpile is at least 60 to 70 kilograms more than 300kg (limit set in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal), and this amount is growing rapidly,” he said.
The spokesman further pointed to heavy water production in Iran and said the country has no obligation to send more than 130 tons of heavy water to other countries as per the nuclear agreement.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held a special meeting last month at Washington’s request to win the Board of Governors’ support for its anti-Iran claims about the nculear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The emergency meeting of the 35-member Board of Governors of the IAEA was held in Vienna to discuss Iran’s nuclear program and wrapped up with no conclusion.
A few days earlier, Iran increased the level of its uranium enrichment to 4.5%, which is beyond the limit set by the JCPOA. The move was part of the second phase of the country’s May 8 decision to reduce its commitments under the multilateral 2015 nuclear deal in reaction to the US violations and Europe’s inaction.
In May 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA.
Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the JCPOA after the US withdrawal, but the three EU parties to the deal (France, Britain, and Germany) have failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.
The EU’s inaction forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments to the nuclear deal, including a rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.
Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the JCPOA but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.
