Tehran — Iran said Friday it would launch a series of “new and advanced” centrifuges in response to a resolution passed by the United Nations nuclear watchdog that blames Tehran for what the agency called a lack of cooperation. The motion of no confidence filed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States before the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) follows a similar motion in June.
It happened like Tensions are high around Iran’s atomic programwith critics fearing Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon – a claim the Islamic Republic has repeatedly denied.
Iran says it will ‘significantly increase’ its uranium enrichment capacity
The resolution, which China, Russia and Burkina Faso voted against, was adopted with 19 votes in favor, 12 abstentions and Venezuela is not participating, two diplomats told AFP.
“The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran ordered to take effective measures, including the launch of a significant series of new and advanced centrifuges of different types,” said a joint statement from the organization and the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Iranian Atomic Energy Organization via AP
Centrifuges are machines that enrich uranium transformed into gas by rotating it at very high speed, thus increasing the proportion of fissile isotopic material (U-235).
“At the same time, technical and safeguards cooperation with the IAEA will continue, as in the past” and within the framework of the agreements concluded by Iran, adds the joint Iranian statement.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said Friday that the new measures were mainly related to uranium enrichment.
“We will significantly increase the enrichment capacity through the use of different types of advanced machines,” he told state television.
Iran’s retaliatory measures “are reversible if this (Western) hostile action is withdrawn or if negotiations are opened,” Hadi Mohammadi, a political analyst based in Tehran, told AFP.
IAEA demands ‘credible explanations’ from Iran
The confidential resolution consulted by AFP affirms that it is “essential and urgent” that Iran “acts to fulfill its legal obligations” under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ratified in 1970.
The text also calls on Tehran to provide “technically credible explanations” for the presence of uranium particles found in two undeclared sites in Iran.
Additionally, Western powers are demanding that the IAEA publish a “comprehensive report” on Iran’s nuclear efforts “no later than” by spring 2025.
-/Atomic Energy Organization of Iran/AFP/Getty
The resolution comes after IAEA chief Rafael Grossi returned from a trip to Tehran last week, where he appeared to have made progress. During the visit, Iran accepted an IAEA request to cap its sensitive stock of uranium close to weapons grade enriched up to 60% purity.
“Iran did not start the cycle of provocation – the Western side could, without passing a resolution… create an atmosphere conducive to negotiations if it was really after the talks,” analyst Mohammadi said.
The 2015 nuclear deal and how we got here
In 2015, Iran and world powers reached a deal to ease international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 under President Donald Trump and reimposed harsh economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin walking back its own commitments.
President Biden sought to revive some parties of the agreement during his first two years in office, but without success.
Without providing any specific evidence to support his claim, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Turner said in a statement August interview CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation’ Says Iran Could Declare Itself a Nuclear Weapons State ‘By the End of the Year,’ Blaming the Biden Administration for What Would Mark a Major Escalation that the United States has sought to avoid for years.
Iran “could declare itself a nuclear weapons state by the end of this year, and reports have come out saying there is a possibility,” Turner told Face the Nation moderator , Margaret Brennan.
Asked by Brennan whether U.S. intelligence believed that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had already decided, after many years of insisting that his country would not seek to develop a nuclear weapon, to change this policy, Turner responded, “No.”
On Thursday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi warned of Iran’s potential next step.
“Iran announced in an official letter to European countries that it would withdraw from the NPT if the rollback mechanism was activated and Security Council sanctions were reinstated,” Gharibabadi said in an interview late in the evening on state television.
The 2015 agreement contains a “rollback” mechanism that can be triggered in the event of “significant non-compliance” with Iran’s commitments.
This would allow many sanctions to be reimposed.
Tehran has since 2021 reduced its cooperation with the agency by deactivating surveillance devices monitoring the nuclear program and banning UN inspectors.
At the same time, it has intensified its nuclear activities, notably by increasing its stocks of enriched uranium and the enrichment level to 60%.
This level is close, according to the IAEA, to the threshold of more than 90% required for a nuclear warhead and significantly higher than the limit of 3.67% agreed in 2015.