Iran is now using advanced machines at two underground sites to enrich uranium to high levels of purity, according to a report.
Three clusters of IR-6 centrifuges were recently installed by the Iranian regime at the underground Natanz Fuel enrichment plant and are now enriching uranium, according to a confidential report done by the International Atomic Energy Agency and seen by Reuters on Monday. The report noted that a second IR-6 cluster is also enriching at Fordow, a plant that sits inside a mountain. The report comes as the West and Iran attempt to reach an agreement on reinstating the 2015 nuclear deal.
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The IR-6 is Iran’s most advanced model of centrifuge, and Iran has been using the machines to enrich uranium up to a 60% purity level at the Natanz site and up to a 20% level at Fordow, according to the report.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was only allowed to use the first-generation IR-1 centrifuge, and it was capped at enriching up to a level of 3.67%.
Uranium is considered weapons-grade once it is enriched to about a 90% purity level, according to the World Nuclear Association.
The IAEA report was provided to United Nations member states, according to Reuters, as both Iran and the United States make incremental progress on reviving the 2015 deal, scrapped by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
The U.S. is awaiting a response from Iran to the Biden administration’s latest comments on the draft text submitted by the European Union.
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Last week, the White House confirmed that Iran dropped key demands in the negotiations, which are being coordinated by the EU, yielding new progress.
“We’re not there yet,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last week, noting that “a lot of gaps remain.”
