Despite warnings from the U.S. and the European Union that Iran is violating the nuclear deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog under the United Nations (UN), confirmed on October 10 that Iran has started producing 3.6 grams of uranium metal, although Iran claims it is only for a research reactor. Although Iran claims that this is only for research reactors, uranium metal is also the core of the atomic bomb.
According to Reuters, the IEA said in a statement that “Administrator Rafael Mariano Grossi briefed Iran the same day (10) on the development of Iran’s uranium metal research and development activities, which Iran has long claimed is only Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) fuel. Iran has long said that uranium metal is only fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR).
The IAEA also noted in a statement that “authorities confirmed that Iran has produced 3.6 grams of uranium metal at the Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant (FPPP) in Isfahan. However, the report mentions an earlier report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran plans to use natural uranium to produce uranium metal and enrich it to the current 20% level, which is still some distance from the 90% enrichment required for nuclear weapons.
Last month, France, the United Kingdom and Germany expressed great concern about uranium metal, as Iran’s claims of uranium metal products have no credible evidence and could have serious military implications. Iran passed a bill last November to take various steps after the killing of chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, including the opening of a uranium metal plant.
Iran has been violating the nuclear deal step by step since 2019, in response to former President Trump‘s withdrawal from the deal in 2018 and the imposition of sanctions, and has been violating the deal’s restrictions on atomic activity at an increasing rate in the past few months, threatening to complicate the situation for current U.S. President Joe Biden.
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