IAEA pleased with Iran’s cooperation in quest on enriched uranium

Tehran, Mar 4 (Prensa Latina) The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, acknowledged today that Iran is fully cooperating wih investigations into the alleged enrichment of uranium to a degree close to that necessary to make an atomic weapon.

March 4, 2023
09:32

There is an atmosphere of work, honesty and cooperation, Grossi said at a press conference after meeting here with local authorities related to the Persian nation’s nuclear program.

Earlier this week, the IAEA reported that uranium particles enriched to 83.7 percent, close to the 90 percent purity required to manufacture an atomic weapon, were found in the Fordo subway nuclear plant.

At the press conference itself, the head of Iran’s nuclear program, Mohammad Eslami, admitted the conclusions of the IAEA report, but made clear that this level is only a momentary side effect of the efforts to achieve a product with a final purity of 60 percent.

It is not equivalent to 84 percent enrichment. The ambiguity of the (IAEA) conclusions has been resolved.

The agreement reached in 2015 by Tehran and the nuclear powers limited Iran’s enrichment capacity to enough to power a nuclear power plant. The U.S. unilaterally abandoned the pact in 2018, and recent efforts to resume it have been stalled for nearly a year.

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