Iran begins uranium enrichment using advanced underground centrifuges.

An aerial view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, 250 km south of the Iranian capital (Reuters)

29/8/2022

An IAEA report revealed that Iran has begun enriching uranium using one of the 3 sets of advanced centrifuges "IR-6" (IR-6), which Tehran recently installed at the underground enrichment plant in Natanz. Restrictions on the uranium enrichment program are one of the most important provisions of the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement..

The IAEA's confidential report said Tehran was using a series of up to 174 devices to enrich uranium to a purity of up to 5%.

The report added that of the other two series of "IR-6" devices at the Natanz underground station, one was undergoing passivation, a process that precedes enrichment, and the other had not yet been fed with nuclear material.

Diplomats say that the IR-6 centrifuges are the most advanced devices, and they are much more effective compared to the first generation of centrifuges allowed by the nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers, and negotiations have been underway for months to revive it after Washington withdrew from it in 2018.

Reuters reported that for more than a year, Iran has been using "IR-6" devices at the Natanz facility to reach the uranium enrichment rate of 60%, which is close to the level required to manufacture a nuclear weapon.

The Israeli prime minister held a private meeting with Netanyahu on Monday afternoon, with the aim of informing him of Tel Aviv's latest moves on the possible return to the nuclear agreement, especially the contacts made by senior Israeli officials with the US administration in this regard.

Earlier, the Israeli prime minister said at the beginning of his cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israel has been running a multi-system political confrontation for a year, according to him, aimed at preventing the signing of the new nuclear agreement with Iran.