Iran Says it Resumes 20% Uranium Enrichment at Fordow Site

This Nov. 4, 2020, satellite photo by Maxar Technologies shows Iran's Fordow nuclear site. (AP)
This Nov. 4, 2020, satellite photo by Maxar Technologies shows Iran's Fordow nuclear site. (AP)
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Iran Says it Resumes 20% Uranium Enrichment at Fordow Site

This Nov. 4, 2020, satellite photo by Maxar Technologies shows Iran's Fordow nuclear site. (AP)
This Nov. 4, 2020, satellite photo by Maxar Technologies shows Iran's Fordow nuclear site. (AP)

Iran has resumed 20% uranium enrichment at an underground nuclear facility, the government said on Monday, breaching a 2015 nuclear pact with major powers and possibly complicating efforts by US President-elect Joe Biden to rejoin the deal.

Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Iran’s arch foe Israel, said the move was aimed at developing nuclear weapons and Israel would never allow Tehran to build them.

The enrichment decision, Iran’s latest contravention of the accord, coincides with increasing tensions between Iran and the United States in the last days of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Tehran started violating the accord in 2019 in a step-by-step response to Trump’s withdrawal from it in 2018 and the reimposition of US sanctions lifted under the deal.

The agreement’s main aim was to extend the time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb, if it chose to, to at least a year from roughly two to three months. It also lifted international sanctions against Tehran.

“A few minutes ago, the process of producing 20% enriched uranium has started in Fordow enrichment complex,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei told Iranian state media.

The UN nuclear watchdog confirmed that Iran had started the process of enriching uranium to 20% purity at its Fordow site.

“Iran today began feeding uranium already enriched up to 4.1 percent U-235 into six centrifuge cascades at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant for further enrichment up to 20%,” the IAEA said in a statement on a report that was sent to member states.

The step was one of many mentioned in a law passed by Iran’s parliament last month in response to the killing of the country’s top nuclear scientist, which Tehran has blamed on Israel.

“Our measures are fully reversible upon FULL compliance by ALL (parties to the deal),” tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Tehran insists it can quickly reverse its breaches if US sanctions are removed. Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20, has said the United States will rejoin the deal “if Iran resumes strict compliance” with the pact.

Nuclear watchdog
The Biden transition team declined comment on Iran’s enrichment move. The White House National Security Council had no comment, and referred queries to the US State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tehran’s move could further hinder efforts to salvage the pact as its breaches have increasingly worried some of the deal’s other parties, which have urged Iran to act responsibly.

In Brussels, a European Union Commission spokesperson said that the “move, if confirmed, would constitute a considerable departure from Iran’s commitments”.

On Jan 1, the IAEA said Tehran had told the watchdog it planned to resume enrichment up to 20% at the Fordow site, which is buried inside a mountain.

“The process of gas injection to centrifuges has started a few hours ago and the first product of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas will be available in a few hours,” Rabiei said.

Iran had earlier breached the deal’s 3.67% limit on the purity to which it can enrich uranium, but it had only gone up to 4.5% so far, well short of the 20% level and of the 90% that is weapons-grade.

US intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons program that it halted in 2003. Iran denies ever having had one.

In Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Iran’s enrichment decision could be explained only as a bid to “continue to carry out its intention to develop a military nuclear program”.

“Israel will not allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons,” he added.

Shielded by the mountains, Fordow is ringed by anti-aircraft guns and other fortifications. It is about the size of a football field, large enough to house 3,000 centrifuges, but small and hardened enough to lead US officials to suspect it had a military purpose when they exposed the site publicly in 2009.

The 2015 deal saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. The accord also called for Fordow to be turned into a research-and-development facility.

Under Iran’s former hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tehran began enrichment at the 20% level. Israel, which has its own undeclared nuclear weapons program, feared Tehran was building an atomic bomb.

After the discovery of Fordow, the US worked on so-called “bunker buster” bombs designed to strike such facilities. As Israel threatened at one point to bomb Iranian nuclear sites like Fordow, US officials reportedly showed them a video of a bunker-buster bomb destroying a mock-up of Fordow in America’s southwestern desert.



Larijani Urges Trump to Define Economic Interests with Iran

Larijani during a press interview (Tasnim) 
Larijani during a press interview (Tasnim) 
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Larijani Urges Trump to Define Economic Interests with Iran

Larijani during a press interview (Tasnim) 
Larijani during a press interview (Tasnim) 

Ali Larijani, a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned that any attack on Iran “will not go unanswered” and called on former US President Donald Trump to “define economic interests with Iran.” His remarks came two days after he suggested that Tehran could reconsider its nuclear program in response to any American military strike.

On Sunday, Trump threatened Iran with an unprecedented military response and further economic pressure if it failed to reach an agreement with Washington to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Earlier, on March 7, Trump announced he had sent a letter to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, urging negotiations on a new nuclear deal or facing possible military action.

In response, Khamenei warned on Monday that the US would receive a “strong slap” if it acted on Trump’s threats.

Hours later, Larijani cautioned that continued pressure on Iran could push the country toward developing nuclear weapons. In an interview with state television, he said: “The Supreme Leader’s fatwa forbids nuclear weapons, but if the US makes a mistake, the Iranian people may demand their production.” He added that even “rational Americans” understood that attacking Iran would only accelerate its nuclear ambitions.

On Wednesday, Larijani shared part of his television interview on his X account, stating: “Mr. Trump is a talented businessman who has built significant wealth. The US can define economic interests with Iran.”

He continued: “Trump claims to seek peace, so he should not speak the language of threats and war. Any attack on Iran will have consequences. We have experienced military leaders ready to respond.”

Larijani previously served as Iran’s parliamentary speaker during negotiations for the 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted US sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program. Western companies signed contracts with Iran following the agreement, but Khamenei later blocked economic cooperation with American firms.

“The catastrophic failures in our region, which cost previous US administrations more than $7 trillion, are proof that military intervention is not the answer,” Larijani added.

A day earlier, Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi said Tehran rejected direct talks with Washington due to “threats” and “bullying” by the US. “We do not negotiate under pressure, only as equals,” he said, without providing further details.

Iran has rolled back key commitments under the nuclear deal in two phases. The first began in May 2019, when Tehran announced a “gradual withdrawal” from the agreement. The second came under US President Joe Biden, who sought but failed to revive the deal.

In February 2021, Iran halted compliance with the Additional Protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and began enriching uranium to 20%, later increasing it to 60% at its Fordow and Natanz facilities.

While Tehran insists its nuclear program is purely peaceful, Western powers argue there is no credible civilian justification for such high levels of uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has noted that no country has enriched uranium to these levels without ultimately developing nuclear weapons.