Iran is responding to an International Atomic Energy Agency resolution. She had warned that the country only needed a few weeks to build material for a nuclear bomb.
After an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution against the country, Iran announced that it will operate more centrifuges to enrich uranium. The Foreign Ministry in Tehran on Thursday described the resolution as “hurried” and “unbalanced”. The IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday called on Iran to cooperate fully with the agency’s inspectors.
Of the body’s 35 countries, only China and Russia voted against, according to diplomats. The IAEA had previously warned that Iran only needed a few weeks to build material for a nuclear bomb. Tehran repeatedly emphasizes that it only wants to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Enriched uranium is used, among other things, as fuel in nuclear reactors. Currently, Iran has enriched 43 kilograms of uranium with a purity of 60%. A very high enrichment of about 90% is required for nuclear weapons.
Iran’s enemy Israel welcomed the decision of the Board of Governors. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: “The many countries that voted in favor of the decision worked together to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.” Defense Secretary Benny Gantz said: “Iran has shown once again that it threatens regional and world peace.”
Nuclear program talks fail
Talks over Iran’s nuclear program have been happening again in Vienna for months. However, the diplomatic process to salvage the 2015 international agreement with Iran is stalled. The new restriction of the nuclear program is almost negotiated, but Washington and Tehran are still at odds over the lifting of US sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also spoke by phone on Wednesday. Cooperation between independent states can counteract “illegal pressure” from the West, according to a statement from the president’s office in Tehran.
(APA/dpa)