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Iran Is Enriching More Uranium to Higher Levels and Faster, IAEA Says, as Nuclear Talks Continue

Iran has begun enriching uranium to higher purity with more advanced centrifuges at its underground Fordow nuclear production plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency announced, during the third day of talks to reset the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers. Iran started to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity with one cascade of 166 advanced IR-6 machines at Fordow, which is a more efficient system of enriching uranium than earlier generations of centrifuges, the UN nuclear watchdog group said Wednesday. At the same time, Iran has said that it will not allow itself to be rushed through the current round of negotiations taking place in Vienna, with an official telling Iran state television that the Islamic Republic “will not be ready to sacrifice its principled demands and the Iranian nation’s rights for mere artificial deadlines or time tables.”

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett referred to the IAEA report on Thursday in a conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during which Blinken updated Bennett on the Vienna talks. Bennett called for “an immediate cessation of negotiations” and for “concrete steps taken by the major powers” over what he called Iran’s “nuclear blackmail.”