Iran says it is starting to enrich uranium to a higher purity than 3.67%, as the European signatories to a 2015 agreement with Tehran miss a 60-day deadline to offset the adverse impacts of a unilateral pullout by the United States.
Iran’s latest cut in its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was announced during a joint news conference by Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi, Administration spokesman Ali Rabiei, and Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), in Tehran on Sunday.
Kamalvandi said that Iran would increase uranium enrichment from the current 3.67% to the level that fulfills the needs of its power plants.
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He also noted that the country had not yet decided on the level of enrichment for the Tehran research reactor.
Iran has previously said it needs five-percent enrichment for its Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and 20-percent for Tehran research reactor.
The Islamic Republic says the suspension of its commitments is not a violation of the JCPOA but is based on Articles 26 and 36 of the agreement itself.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
