Rouhani said it was a “mistake” for Europe and the United States to express concerns that the move “means we can enrich to 90% in one go.”
“Our nuclear activities are peaceful; we are not seeking to obtain the atomic bomb,” he said in remarks broadcast on state television.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, though its leaders regularly threaten to destroy Israel and the West and the International Atomic Energy Agency says Tehran had an organized military nuclear program up until the end of 2003. An annual US intelligence report released Tuesday maintained the American assessment that “Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that we judge would be necessary to produce a nuclear device.”
Iran previously had said it could use uranium enriched up to 60% for nuclear-powered ships. However, the Islamic Republic currently has no such ships in its navy.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom, all parties to the nuclear deal, only hours earlier issued a joint statement Wednesday expressing their “grave concern” over Iran’s decision to increase enrichment.
“This is a serious development since the production of highly enriched uranium constitutes an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon,” the countries said. “Iran has no credible civilian need for enrichment at this level.”
China and Russia also took part in the deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called Iran’s enrichment decision a “provocative announcement.”
The talks already have been thrown into disarray by this week’s attack on Iran’s main Natanz nuclear enrichment site suspected to have been carried out by Israel. Tehran retaliated by announcing it would enrich uranium up to 60% — higher than it ever has before but still lower than weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday dismissed initial offers at the Vienna talks as “not worth looking at,” attempting to pressure the world powers. READ MORE
