Iran to Speed Up Uranium Enrichment as of Thursday

The AEOI spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said Wednesday that the 10-day deadline Iran had declared last week will end on June 27, and the pace of the country’s uranium enrichment will increase henceforth.

Kamalvandi first made the announcement in a press conference at the site of the Arak nuclear facilities back on June 17.

According to the spokesman, the move is part of Tehran’s decision to reduce some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in reaction to the other parties’ failure to live up to their commitments.

The increase in uranium stockpiles is based on the Articles 26 and 36 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he said.

He also announced that the country’s heavy-water stockpiles will exceed the 130-tonne limit set by JCPOA within 2.5 months.

He also noted that the decision is reversible in case other parties to the deal implement their commitments.

“Europeans still have time to compensate, but if they want more, it means either they cannot or they do not want to fulfill their commitments,” he noted.

The announcement came almost 40 days after Iran gave the Europeans a 60-day deadline to live up to their commitments under the nuclear accord; otherwise, Iran has vowed to take “further measures” after the two-month period.

Iran will make decision about the level of its uranium enrichment after the 60-day deadline, Kamalvandi said.

We’re waiting for the decision of the country’s top authorities, but for now we are thinking of different scenarios including an enrichment level of 3.68 percent and more, he noted.

The level can be 5 percent for Bushehr nuclear power plant, and 20 percent for Tehran research reactor, he predicted.

“With current facilities, we have a production capacity of 190,000 SWUs. In the 15th year of the JCPOA (11 years later), we will have a capacity of 272,000 SWUs. If we withdraw from the deal, the speed will be much higher.”