Iran announced the activation of new sophisticated centrifuges, which enrich uranium for the country’s nuclear program, after the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, IAEA criticised the country for failing to cooperate with the agency.
Iran will activate “a noticeable number of new and advanced centrifuges of different types,” according to state news agency IRNA, citing a joint statement from Iran’s foreign ministry and Atomic Energy Organization.
“The steps are being taken to protect the country’s interests and further develop the peaceful nuclear energy,” in line with national needs and within Iran’s rights, the statement added.
Injecting gas into centrifuges is part of the process to enrich uranium, which could ultimately be used to develop a nuclear weapon.
But Iran has repeatedly denied it does not have any ambitions of building a bomb.
The move was in response to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose board passed a resolution ordering Iran to urgently improve its cooperation with the agency.
The IAEA and Iran have long tussled over various issues, including traces of uranium found at locations that have not been declared nuclear sites.
The IAEA board also requested on Thursday that the agency prepare an evaluation of Iran’s cooperation with the agency and any potential undeclared nuclear material.
Iran criticised the resolution, saying it was politically driven in the joint statement, according to IRNA.
Iran would carry on with its already agreed-upon technical and safeguards cooperation with the IAEA, the statement added.
In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry claimed the resolution was made “under pressure and insistence from three European countries and the US,” and warned it could trigger “an appropriate response from Iran.”
Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has previously warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.
He has acknowledged the UN agency cannot guarantee that none of Iran’s centrifuges may have been peeled away for clandestine enrichment.
Israel Defense Minister Gideon Sa’ar applauded the IAEA resolution, writing on X that “Iran’s nuclear race must be stopped.” The resolution “is a significant part of the diplomatic effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” Sa’ar stated.
Under the provisions of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was confined to running approximately 5,000 older-model centrifuges, with advanced centrifuges only permitted for research reasons.
However, Tehran steadily reduced its commitments to the nuclear deal after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Iran, crippling its economy. By 2019, Iran has launched additional centrifuges, a significant violation from the agreement.
Earlier this year, U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Iran’s breakout time – the amount of time needed to produce enough weapons grade material for a nuclear weapon – “is now probably one or two weeks,” the shortest breakout time.
