Media Wire

Iran to Inject Gas into Fordow Nuclear Plant at Midnight

Iran is making final preparations for injecting gas into centrifuges at Fordow enrichment facility as part of a fourth step in suspending its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal in reciprocation for Washington’s pullout and Europe’s failure to meet its end of the bargain.

A 2,800-kilogram cylinder containing 2,000 kilograms of UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) has been transferred from Natanz nuclear facility to Fordow – near the city of Qom, where 1,044 centrifuges are installed.

The deal allowed the first-generation IR-1 centrifuges at Fordow to spin without uranium gas.

The process is taking place under the supervision of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The UN nuclear watchdog is tasked with monitoring the technical aspects in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

An IAEA spokesman confirmed that UN inspectors are on the ground in Iran and will report back on relevant activities,.

“We are aware of the media reports today related to Fordow. Agency inspectors are on the ground in Iran and they will report any relevant activities to IAEA headquarters in Vienna,” the spokesman said in a statement.

Speaking on Wednesday, Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), explained that the first step for enriching uranium is transferring the material to the site before connecting them to the feeding lines.

The injection process will practically begin at midnight, said Kamalvandi, adding that the process will take a few hours to stabilize and by Saturday, when IAEA inspectors will again visit the site, a uranium enrichment level of 4.5 percent will have been achieved.

The fourth step in Iran’s commitment reductions was initially announced by President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday.

The Islamic Republic says the suspension of its commitments is not a violation of the JCPOA but is based on Articles 26 and 36 of the agreement itself.

The fate of the Iran deal has been in doubt since May 2018, when the US abruptly abandoned the deal and reinstated the anti-Iran sanctions that it had lifted as part of the JCPOA.

Tehran says the European cosignatories — Britain, Germany and France — have so far failed to uphold their commitments.They have expressed vocal support for the deal, but failed to provide meaningful economic incentives as required under the nuclear agreement.

IFP Media Wire

Reports and views published in the Media Wire section have been retrieved from other news agencies and websites, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website. The IFP may change the headlines of the reports in a bid to make them compatible with its own style of covering Iran News, and does not make any changes to the content. The source and URL of all reports and news stories are mentioned at the bottom of each article.

Recent Posts

Four terrorists killed during clash with IRGC forces in Iran’s southeast

Iranian security forces have killed another four terrorists in the southeastern city of Rask in…

2 hours ago

Former Parliament chief: Iran should not tie affairs to Trump

The former speaker of the Iranian Parliament and a current member of the country's Expediency…

2 hours ago

IRGC chief commander: Resistance grandeur led to changes in US leadership

The commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) says that the power of Palestinian…

3 hours ago

Iran signs key agreements during communications minister’s visit to Cuba, Venezuela

Iran’s Minister of Communications Sattar Hashemi has recently concluded a "productive" six-day trip to Cuba…

5 hours ago

Iran’s president says no matter who has won the US  vote

The Iranian President, in his first reaction to Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential…

5 hours ago

Iraq’s FM denies reports Iran planning attack on Israel from Iraqi territory

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has dismissed reports suggesting that Iran is planning a retaliatory…

8 hours ago