Iran increases pressure on uranium enrichment

Tehran resumed operations at Fordo and said its centrifuges would ramp up to produce, from Saturday, the enriched uranium to 4.5%.

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Iran continues to put pressure on Western countries. After repeatedly reducing its international commitments on its nuclear program, the Islamic Republic announced Saturday [November 9th] that it would now enrich uranium by 4.5%. Under Iran's international agreement on the Iran nuclear program signed in 2015, Iran was not allowed to carry out enrichment activities at Fordo, a long-held underground factory, and to enrich uranium with isotopes. 235 to more than 3.67%.

Tehran resumed Thursday its enrichment activities on the site. At a press conference, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi added that Iran has the "Ability to produce 5%, 20%, 60% or any other percentage". The rate of 5% remains below the 20% enrichment that Iran has a time practiced, and very far from the 90% needed to consider the manufacture of an atomic bomb.

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Longing for European capitals

The Iranian announcement of a resumption of activities at Fordo has caused great concern in Paris, London and Berlin, states parties to the Vienna agreement, who called on Tehran to reconsider its decision. The resumption of enrichment at Fordo is the fourth phase of the Iranian commitment reduction plan launched in May in response to the reinstatement of the sanctions of the United States, which unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the international agreement.

Under the terms of the pact, Tehran reaffirmed that it would never seek to develop or acquire the nuclear weapon and agreed to drastically reduce its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of some of the international sanctions already suffocating the country. time his economy.

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But the withdrawal of the Washington agreement, with the reinstatement of US sanctions, has changed the game. Iran has since sought to put pressure on the countries still engaged in the deal to help it bypass them, but failing to obtain satisfaction, it has reduced its commitments.

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