Iran Enriching Uranium to 60% Purity at Underground Fordow Nuclear Site

Iran has begun enriching uranium to a purity of 60% at its underground Fordow nuclear site, the country’s nuclear chief told official state media. It is the first time that uranium is being enriched at such high levels at Fordow, though it is being enriched to 60% in other facilities in the Islamic Republic. The announcement appears to be a response to the adoption last week of a draft resolution proposed by the United States, Britain, France and Germany by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, that calls on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA’s investigators regarding the alleged “traces of uranium” at a number of its undeclared nuclear sites. “We had said that Iran will seriously react to any resolution and political pressure … that is why Iran has started enriching uranium to 60% purity from Monday at the Fordow site,” said Mohammad Eslami, president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. In June, Iran said that it was preparing to use IR-6 centrifuges, which can easily switch between enrichment levels, at the Fordow site. Sixty percent enrichment is a significant step toward weapons-grade enrichment, but does not reach the 90% necessary to create a nuclear weapon. Under the nuclear agreement that Iran signed with the world powers in 2015, Iran agreed to close the Fordow plant and limit its enrichment of uranium to 3.67 percent. But when the United States pulled out of the agreement Iran began to violate the terms of the deal.