Tehran says able to enrich uranium up to 60%

CAIRO – 10 November 2019: The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has said that Iran has the capacity to enrich uranium up to 60 percent.

AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said during a news conference at the underground Fordow nuclear plant that the organization has the possibility to produce 5 percent, 20 percent and 60 percent.

Last month, Iran's highest political authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said had never pursued the building or use of nuclear weapons, however, it announced resuming uranium enrichment at Fordow.

This decision was taken despite the 2015 nuclear pact that bans production of nuclear material at Fordow, which was hid from UN non-proliferation inspectors until its exposure in 2009.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Fordow on Sunday, Kamalvandi said.

Since May, Iran has begun to exceed limits on its nuclear capacity set by the pact in retaliation for U.S. pressure on Tehran to negotiate restrictions on its ballistic missile program and support for proxy forces around the Middle East.

Iran says its measures are reversible if European signatories to the accord manage to restore its access to foreign trade promised under the nuclear deal but blocked by the reimposition of U.S. sanctions.