Nuclear Chief: Iran Can Enrich Uranium ‘At Any Rate’

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) head Mohammad Eslami (Reuters)
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) head Mohammad Eslami (Reuters)
TT
20

Nuclear Chief: Iran Can Enrich Uranium ‘At Any Rate’

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) head Mohammad Eslami (Reuters)
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) head Mohammad Eslami (Reuters)

Iran can enrich uranium whenever it wants, and at any rate, announced head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami.

In an interview with Iranian television, Eslami stated that the US wanted to stop Iran's nuclear technology but failed.

Asked about the failed negotiations to revive the nuclear deal, Eslami said that it was proved that the US reasons for not agreeing were mere excuses and that Washington's primary goal was to prevent Iran's progress.

Asked about reaching 60 percent of enriched uranium, the official said this step had a noticeable impact, and it was only normal to affect the negotiations.

He added that the US officials have an impression that Iran is a nuclear state and they cannot get rid of that quickly. More importantly, they realized these local abilities could not be eliminated.

Eslami pointed out that Iran recently carried out an unprecedented amount of enrichment, proving to all, whether friends or enemies, that the Iranian ability is real and undeniable.

Negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement between Iran and the major powers stalled in Vienna more than a year ago. Last September, the EU's attempt to renew the talks failed.

Tehran enriched uranium to 20 percent at the Natanz plant days after US President Joe Biden assumed his position in January 2021 and raised the enrichment rate to 60 percent at the facility in April.

In January 2022, Tehran began enriching uranium by 20 percent at the Fordow facility, and in June, it raised the enrichment to a purity of 60 percent.

In February, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said Iran's estimated stockpile of enriched uranium had reached more than 18 times the limit set out in the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers.



Russia Says its Troops Reach Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Region

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo
TT
20

Russia Says its Troops Reach Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Region

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian forces reached Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region and continued their advance there.

It also said that Russian troops captured the village of Zoria in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

Moscow, which has the initiative on the battlefield, has repeatedly refused calls by Ukraine, Europe and US President Donald Trump for a full and unconditional ceasefire.

At talks in Istanbul last week it demanded Kyiv pull troops back from the frontline, agree to end all Western arms support and give up on its ambitions to join the NATO military alliance.

Dnipropetrovsk is not among the five Ukrainian regions over which Russia has asserted a formal territorial claim.

It is an important mining and industrial hub for Ukraine and deeper Russian advances into the region could have a serious knock-on effect for Kyiv's struggling military and economy.

Dnipropetrovosk was estimated to have a population of around three million people before Russia launched its offensive. Around one million people lived in the regional capital, Dnipro.