Iran is preparing to begin operating advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its underground Fordow site to enable it to switch enrichment levels for uranium, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said in a confidential report.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency verified on Saturday that Iran was poised to begin operation of the second of two cascades of the centrifuges, according to the report to member states, first seen and reported by Reuters.
The escalation of Iran’s nuclear enrichment comes as talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have been stalled. The move also comes as 30 of the 35 countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors recently backed a resolution criticizing Iran for failing to explain the presence of traces of uranium at undeclared sites.
Iran informed the IAEA on Monday that it had begun to feed the feed uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas into the cascade on Sunday, according to the report. Iran’s nuclear deal with the world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, forbids uranium enrichment at the Fordow site.