Iran tells IAEA it plans to enrich uranium to up to 20% at Fordow site

[rooster59]

Iran tells IAEA it plans to enrich uranium to up to 20% at Fordow site

By Francois Murphy

 

Flags flutter in the wind in front of the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, December 16, 2020. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

 

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has told the United Nations nuclear watchdog it plans to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity, a level it achieved before its 2015 accord, at its Fordow site buried inside a mountain, the agency said on Friday.

 

The move is the latest of several recent announcements by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to further breach the deal, which it started violating in 2019 in retaliation for Washington's withdrawal from the agreement and the reimposition of U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

 

This step was one of many mentioned in a law passed by Iran's parliament last month in response to the killing of the country's top nuclear scientist, which Tehran has blamed on Israel. Such moves by Iran could complicate efforts by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to rejoin the deal.

 

"Iran has informed the Agency that in order to comply with a legal act recently passed by the country's parliament, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran intends to produce low-enriched uranium (LEU) up to 20 percent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant," the IAEA said in a statement.

 

An IAEA report to member states earlier on Friday obtained by Reuters used similar wording in describing a letter by Iran to the IAEA dated Dec. 31.

 

"Iran's letter to the Agency ... did not say when this enrichment activity would take place," the IAEA statement said.

 

Fordow was built inside a mountain, apparently to protect it from aerial bombardment, and the 2015 deal does not allow enrichment there. Iran is already enriching at Fordow with first-generation IR-1 centrifuges.

 

Iran has breached the deal's 3.67% limit on the purity to which it can enrich uranium, but it has only gone up to 4.5% so far, well short of the 20% it achieved before the deal and the 90% that is weapons-grade.

 

The deal's main aim was to extend the time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb, if it chose to, to at least a year from roughly two to three months. It also lifted international sanctions against Tehran.

 

U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons programme that it halted in 2003. Iran denies ever having had one.

 

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-02

 

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[Tug]

Most likely posturing in preparation of entering negotiations with the Biden administration for a new nonproliferation treaty plus they’re <deleted> off about trump wacking a state official (not that I mind he was enemy)

[Scot123]

I've always believed that this is the country we should have attacked and not Iraq. I also believe that the military industrial complex is itching for a war after Sir Trump de-escalated troops and military presence in the middle east (something liberals were supposed to support, go figure). Watch this space under the puppet crooked B. because war is coming 

[from the home of CC]

maybe they can make a dirty bomb and trade it for access to banking to buy a vaccine..

[Eric Loh]

Trump will leave behind a dangerous world for Joe Biden to face. Iran and North Korea are posing nuclear threats. China is more hostile and aggressive. Emboldened Russia is again in a Cold War with EU and USA. IS still active in Syria and Iraq. Fragmentation of traditional US allies and NATO. It will challenge Joe’s diplomatic experience and skill. 

 

[Sujo]

52 minutes ago, Scot123 said:

I've always believed that this is the country we should have attacked and not Iraq. I also believe that the military industrial complex is itching for a war after Sir Trump de-escalated troops and military presence in the middle east (something liberals were supposed to support, go figure). Watch this space under the puppet crooked B. because war is coming 

Why, both iran and iraq had nothing to do with it. Afghanistan and Saudi did.

 

Do you understand trump hung the kurds out to dry, great ally but trump threw them under the bus.

[scammed]

20 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Trump will leave behind a dangerous world for Joe Biden to face. Iran and North Korea are posing nuclear threats. China is more hostile and aggressive. Emboldened Russia is again in a Cold War with EU and USA. IS still active in Syria and Iraq. Fragmentation of traditional US allies and NATO. It will challenge Joe’s diplomatic experience and skill. 

 

he is already overtaxed with reading the script made for him

[Isaan sailor]

Iran is friendly with China.

Thailand is friendly with China (an understatement).

So is Thailand friendly with Iran?

[ChouDoufu]

not a problem....iaea inspectors are still inspecting.

 

iran is only enriching to 20% purity, not useful for a bomb, but useful for stocking their research reactor to make medical isotopes.

 

like much of their nukular program, this is just another chip to trade off to get other, more powerful nations, to fulfill their promises.

 

iran has already said all steps they've taken since trump broke the agreement are reversible, and they will return to full compliance once the usa does.

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, Scot123 said:

I've always believed that this is the country we should have attacked and not Iraq. I also believe that the military industrial complex is itching for a war after Sir Trump de-escalated troops and military presence in the middle east (something liberals were supposed to support, go figure). Watch this space under the puppet crooked B. because war is coming 

Why should anybody have been attacked, and why Iran over Iraq?

 

I think liberals support troop reduction, but not troop reduction without a plan. Which is what is happening now, troop reduction just for the sake of reducing.

[Sujo]

5 hours ago, stevenl said:

Why should anybody have been attacked, and why Iran over Iraq?

 

I think liberals support troop reduction, but not troop reduction without a plan. Which is what is happening now, troop reduction just for the sake of reducing.

Not even the pentagon supports troop reduction without a plan. At least tell the allies who fought alongside the US about it, but trump didnt.

 

For trump, allies are now enemies. Enemies are now allies.

[placeholder]

7 hours ago, Scot123 said:

I've always believed that this is the country we should have attacked and not Iraq. I also believe that the military industrial complex is itching for a war after Sir Trump de-escalated troops and military presence in the middle east (something liberals were supposed to support, go figure). Watch this space under the puppet crooked B. because war is coming 

Because the Iraq War was too easy? 

[placeholder]

5 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

Iran is friendly with China.

Thailand is friendly with China (an understatement).

So is Thailand friendly with Iran?

Iran is friendly with Pakistan. Saudi Arabia is friendly with Pakistan. So is Iran friendly with Saudi Arabia?

[Baerboxer]

23 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Trump will leave behind a dangerous world for Joe Biden to face. Iran and North Korea are posing nuclear threats. China is more hostile and aggressive. Emboldened Russia is again in a Cold War with EU and USA. IS still active in Syria and Iraq. Fragmentation of traditional US allies and NATO. It will challenge Joe’s diplomatic experience and skill. 

 

 

All of those issues were around before Trump. He made a mess of handling them as he wasn't an experienced politician and diplomat but they were all bubbling for a long time. Biden will bring a decades long career politicians touch and might not make them worse. But solving them, that's another matter and he'll have is work cut out handling Covid, the US economy, and the worsening US civil divide.

 

Wish him well, but he's got a challenge and a half.

[Baerboxer]

16 hours ago, placeholder said:

Iran is friendly with Pakistan. Saudi Arabia is friendly with Pakistan. So is Iran friendly with Saudi Arabia?

 

No. Hate one another. Sunni dominated KSA v Shi'ite dominated Iran. Pakistan and Turkey are both predominantly Sunni. Turkey holds military exercises with Russia and Iran and buys Russian missiles whilst being a full NATO member.   

 

In the Islamic world, IME, the saying "my enemies friend is my enemy", doesn't always apply.

[Nout]

Biden has made a statement declaring he will bring the troops home..from Nam!

[stevenl]

12 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

All of those issues were around before Trump. He made a mess of handling them as he wasn't an experienced politician and diplomat but they were all bubbling for a long time. Biden will bring a decades long career politicians touch and might not make them worse. But solving them, that's another matter and he'll have is work cut out handling Covid, the US economy, and the worsening US civil divide.

 

Wish him well, but he's got a challenge and a half.

Agree with you, except for fragmentation of NATO, Trump has mostly caused that. But Trump has made all other situations worse. 

[stevenl]

5 minutes ago, Nout said:

Biden has made a statement declaring he will bring the troops home..from Nam!

Are you referring to this "Joe Biden Vows to Bring Troops Home from Vietnam, Work with Soviets on Détente"?

 

From the news site with this heading "By The Needling, Seattle's Only Real Fake News"?

https://theneedling.com/2020/02/17/joe-biden-vows-to-bring-troops-home-from-vietnam-work-with-soviets-on-detente/

[Thomas J]

It just shows that one sovereign nation can never force another sovereign nation to control its actions.  The USA has tried that for decades.  It has only led to wars which have cost millions of American and Foreign lives, billions of dollars and have uniformly led to worse conditions for the foreign countries.  Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan were war casualties that in the end resulted in nothing but hardship and suffering for their people.  

I am not a huge fan of Collin Powell but he was very accurate when he said that the U.S. military is good at only two things: 1. Killing people and 2. Blowing things up. 

I suggest the U.S. has never been good at nation building or regime change, and in almost all instances the imposition of U.S. will over another country has led to further dislike and violence. 

One other thing that Collin Powell said which has proven to be true.  The use of military force to topple other governments imposes the Pottery Barn policy.  You break it, you own it.  U.S. forces are still in Germany more telling it will be 20 years this November that the U.S. sent troops to Afghanistan.  It is still there, there is still fighting, war lords, and terrorists.  

 

[placeholder]

44 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

No. Hate one another. Sunni dominated KSA v Shi'ite dominated Iran. Pakistan and Turkey are both predominantly Sunni. Turkey holds military exercises with Russia and Iran and buys Russian missiles whilst being a full NATO member.   

 

In the Islamic world, IME, the saying "my enemies friend is my enemy", doesn't always apply.

Stop thinking formulaically.

"Pakistan is one of the few countries where Iranian influence is positively received as per polls conducted by the Pew Research Center. Polls have consistently shown that a very high proportion of Pakistanis view their western neighbour positively.^[7][8] Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei has also called for the sympathy, assistance and inter-cooperation of all Muslim nations, including Pakistan.^[9]"

Iran–Pakistan relations - Wikipedia

[FangFerang]

On 1/2/2021 at 3:50 PM, Scot123 said:

I've always believed that this is the country we should have attacked and not Iraq. I also believe that the military industrial complex is itching for a war after Sir Trump de-escalated troops and military presence in the middle east (something liberals were supposed to support, go figure). Watch this space under the puppet crooked B. because war is coming 

War is not coming.  Bad prophecy Mini Seer.  The MIC got the money they wanted.  That's why the GOP senate canned 2000 USD payments to the populace--we cannot fund the MIC, with the earlier elite tax cuts, and also support physical and citizen infrastructure.  Let them eat cake.