IAEA Confirms Beginning of 20% Uranium Enrichment in Iran: Envoy

In comments on Monday, Kazem Gharibabadi said director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed in a report that Iran has begun to enrich uranium up to a purity level of 20 percent.

The envoy said the report came after Iran provided the IAEA with an amendment to the Design Information Questionnaire (DIQ) for Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) where the IAEA inspectors visited on Monday morning to verify the information and to break seals on a cylinder containing uranium enriched to 4.1 percent.

The UN nuclear agency’s report declares that the IAEA inspectors have removed the seal on a 137.2 kg cylinder containing 4.1% uranium, the cylinder has been connected to the production line, and the enrichment of uranium up to purity level of 20% has begun, Gharibabadi added.

The envoy noted that resumption of 20% uranium enrichment in Iran follows a letter that Tehran sent to the IAEA on December 31, 2020, saying the UN nuclear agency had been notified that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has plans to enrich uranium to 20% purity level in compliance with a bill recently ratified by the Iranian Parliament.

Iran had announced in the recent letter that it would provide the IAEA with an updated Design Information Questionnaire for Fordow nuclear site, he concluded.