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.



Japanese Police Arrest Man after Car Ploughs into Schoolchildren

Police officers investigate the scene in Osaka's Nishinari district on May 1, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
Police officers investigate the scene in Osaka's Nishinari district on May 1, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
TT
20

Japanese Police Arrest Man after Car Ploughs into Schoolchildren

Police officers investigate the scene in Osaka's Nishinari district on May 1, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
Police officers investigate the scene in Osaka's Nishinari district on May 1, 2025. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT

Japanese police arrested a man after they said he ploughed his car deliberately into seven primary school children in the western city of Osaka on Thursday.

The children, who had been on their way home from school, were injured and rushed to hospital but all seven remained conscious.

An Osaka police official, who declined to be identified, said the driver was a 28-year-old man who lives in Tokyo and gave AFP an account of what he said after his arrest.

"I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by ramming the car I was driving into several elementary school children," the official quoted the man as saying.

Police are holding him on suspicion of attempted murder, the official said.

The children are aged seven and eight and police said the most serious injury was a fractured jaw suffered by a seven-year-old girl.

The other six, all boys, appeared to have suffered comparatively milder injuries that included bruises and scratches and they were under examination, police said.

The car was "zigzagging" as it hit the children, with one girl "covered in blood and other kids suffering what appeared to be scratches", a witness told Nippon TV.

The driver was wearing a surgical mask and "looked like he was in shock" after he was dragged out of the car by school teachers, Nippon TV quoted a witness as saying.