The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi made the announcement during a press conference held in the Iranian holy city of Qom on Monday.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China — plus Germany started implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on January 16, 2016.
Under the agreement, Iran accepted to put limitations on its program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
Salehi also warned that if any of the parties to the nuclear accord violates its terms, Iran will boost its uranium enrichment by over ten fold.
“Before the JCPOA, our enrichment capacity was at 9,000 Separative work units (SWU) and we had 10,000 SWUs which were not operational. We can in a year and a half increase the 9,000 active SWU’s to 100,000 active SWUs,” he said.
He also noted that the last part of the 149-ton shipment of natural uranium will be arriving in Tehran on Tuesday.
Referring to reports that former US President Barack Obama said that the JCPOA closed down Iran’s nuclear activities, Salehi noted that these were nothing but false claims.
