The UN’s nuclear watchdog reported that Tehran started the process of enriching uranium at Fordo, 135 kilometers from Tehran, to up to 20 percent purity with a cluster of 166 advanced IR-6 machines.
The announcement from the IAEA came three days after negotiators from Iran and the US reconvened in Vienna for indirect talks aimed at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action after a five-month recess prompted by the election of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi.
Iran has been escalating in its violations of the deal — which bars any enrichment at Fordo — since former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and began imposing significant sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Until now, Iran had been enriching uranium at Fordo, but mainly with less-advanced IR-1 machines, the report said, adding that Western negotiators fear that Tehran is seeking to create facts on the ground as talks in Vienna restart. READ MORE
