Salehi: Iran Not Bluffing About Enrichment
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Thursday Tehran is not "bluffing" when it says it is ready to resume the 20-percent uranium enrichment if the Europeans fail to save the 2015 nuclear accord.
Salehi said that under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran accepted to curb its nuclear program as part of its confidence-building measures, but those measures would not obstruct the peaceful activities of Iran’s nuclear industry.
"Now I'm emphasizing once again that if the establishment wants, we can easily return to the 20-percent enrichment, and meet the country's needs at any level and volume," he said during a tour of the Fordow nuclear facility.
Officials say Iran has the technological knowhow to immediately begin higher-level uranium enrichment and has refrained from doing so in a bid to preserve the nuclear deal.
Iran in June reopened a nuclear plant idle for nine years after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear accord.
It came after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to start preparations to upgrade enrichment capacity in case the Europeans fail to save the nuclear accord.
The plant for the production of UF6, the feedstock for centrifuge machines that enrich uranium, was relaunched and a barrel of yellow cake was delivered there.
The UF6 factory, which had been inactive since 2009 due to a lack of yellow cake, is part of the Isfahan uranium conversion facility.
According to AEOI’s statement on its website, Iran has imported a huge amount of yellow cake since the nuclear deal in 2015, and has also produced some domestically.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on June 5 that the AEOI had informed it of "tentative” plans to resume production of UF6.
The nuclear deal allows Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent and caps its stock of enriched uranium hexafluoride at 300 kilograms (660 pounds).
Salehi said on Thursday, "Enrichment is currently underway, but we would put aside the 300kg limit whenever we wish, and would do the enrichment at any volume and level."
"We currently have 1,044 centrifuges in Fordow, and if the establishment wants, we will restart 20-percent uranium enrichment in Fordow."
The official expressed hope the remaining parties to the nuclear agreement would deliver on their promises and implement their commitments in order to fill the gap left by U.S. withdrawal from deal.
Otherwise, he said, Iran will have to reduce its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the nuclear deal is officially called.
"I would like to warn that this is not a bluff; I have kept my word whenever I’ve said something. Now I’m emphasizing once again that if the establishment wants, we can easily return to the 20-percent enrichment, and meet the country’s needs at any level and volume,” Salehi said.
The European Union has vowed to establish a mechanism to facilitate non-dollar transactions with Iran.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday, "I will expect this instrument to be established in the coming weeks before the end of the year as a way to protect and promote legitimate business.”
Salehi said that under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran accepted to curb its nuclear program as part of its confidence-building measures, but those measures would not obstruct the peaceful activities of Iran’s nuclear industry.
"Now I'm emphasizing once again that if the establishment wants, we can easily return to the 20-percent enrichment, and meet the country's needs at any level and volume," he said during a tour of the Fordow nuclear facility.
Officials say Iran has the technological knowhow to immediately begin higher-level uranium enrichment and has refrained from doing so in a bid to preserve the nuclear deal.
Iran in June reopened a nuclear plant idle for nine years after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 nuclear accord.
It came after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to start preparations to upgrade enrichment capacity in case the Europeans fail to save the nuclear accord.
The plant for the production of UF6, the feedstock for centrifuge machines that enrich uranium, was relaunched and a barrel of yellow cake was delivered there.
The UF6 factory, which had been inactive since 2009 due to a lack of yellow cake, is part of the Isfahan uranium conversion facility.
According to AEOI’s statement on its website, Iran has imported a huge amount of yellow cake since the nuclear deal in 2015, and has also produced some domestically.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on June 5 that the AEOI had informed it of "tentative” plans to resume production of UF6.
The nuclear deal allows Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent and caps its stock of enriched uranium hexafluoride at 300 kilograms (660 pounds).
Salehi said on Thursday, "Enrichment is currently underway, but we would put aside the 300kg limit whenever we wish, and would do the enrichment at any volume and level."
"We currently have 1,044 centrifuges in Fordow, and if the establishment wants, we will restart 20-percent uranium enrichment in Fordow."
The official expressed hope the remaining parties to the nuclear agreement would deliver on their promises and implement their commitments in order to fill the gap left by U.S. withdrawal from deal.
Otherwise, he said, Iran will have to reduce its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the nuclear deal is officially called.
"I would like to warn that this is not a bluff; I have kept my word whenever I’ve said something. Now I’m emphasizing once again that if the establishment wants, we can easily return to the 20-percent enrichment, and meet the country’s needs at any level and volume,” Salehi said.
The European Union has vowed to establish a mechanism to facilitate non-dollar transactions with Iran.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday, "I will expect this instrument to be established in the coming weeks before the end of the year as a way to protect and promote legitimate business.”