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Iran won’t exceed 4.5% level of uranium enrichment for now – AEOI

Nuclear Program Materials 17 July 2019 12:30 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 17

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

Tehran has no plans to surpass the current 4.5 percent enrichment level for now, Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said, Trend reports via IRNA.

“For now, the level of our uranium enrichment stands at 4.5 percent and we have no plans to increase it,” he said.

Kamalvandi underlined that the 4.5 percent enrichment has already met Iran’s domestic needs and Iran can supply the fuel required for Tehran reactor for next years.

He added that Iran doesn’t need a 20 percent enrichment for the time being, but may consider it in the next phase of its nuclear activities.

On July 15, Kamalvandi said that Tehran’s retaliatory decision to reduce some of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is within the framework of the accord, which says if one side fails to deliver on its commitments, the right is reserved for the other party to reconsider its obligations.

He added that Iran’s uranium stockpile surpassed 300 kilograms after the 60-day ultimatum to Europeans and Tehran was no longer obliged to export the surplus heavy water anymore as it was required under the deal.

“We have gone beyond 3.67 percent [uranium] enrichment and are also producing the enriched material required for nuclear plant fuel with 4.5 percent purity,” he said.

In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions against Iran in November of the same year. In May 2019, a year after US President Donald Trump's decision to abandon the nuclear deal, Iran suspended some of its commitments under the deal, giving the other signatories a first 60-day deadline to turn their verbal support for the accord into concrete action.

In order to preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal stated in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed. Iran announced on May 8, 2019 that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories having not fulfilled their obligations.

On July 7, Iran said that it will no longer fulfill its commitments stated in the JCPOA with regards to the 3.67-percent limit on uranium enrichment and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility.

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