Iran has started producing uranium metal to use it as fuel for one of its reactors, a further violation of its commitments in the 2015 agreement, said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this Wednesday evening.
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The UN agency, headquartered in Vienna,
"on February 8 verified 3.6 grams of uranium metal in the Isfahan plant"
(center), according to a statement sent to the AFP.
The subject is all the more sensitive as uranium metal can be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi informed member states of this new development which, according to Tehran, aims
"to produce fuel"
within the framework of research and development activities.
The Common Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015 by Iran and six major powers (China, United States, France, United Kingdom, Russia and Germany), includes a 15-year ban on
"The production or acquisition of plutonium or uranium metals or their alloys"
.
It anticipates that Iran may be allowed to begin research into the production of uranium fuel
"in small quantities"
after ten years, but only with the permission of the other signatories.
Hope for a resumption of dialogue with Biden
This announcement comes a little over a month after Tehran resumed enrichment of 20% uranium.
While this level is far from the 90% level required for a bomb, it is the most serious breach of the agreement since the withdrawal of the United States in 2018 and the reinstatement of sanctions.
Joe Biden's arrival at the White House on January 20 gave hope for a resumption of dialogue after the maximum pressure policy exercised by his predecessor Donald Trump.
But the new US president has warned that he will not take the first step towards Iran by lifting the sanctions, as the Iranian leaders are demanding.
"If they want Iran to return to its commitments (...), the United States must fully lift the sanctions, in practice and not on paper,"
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Sunday.
"We will then check whether in fact the sanctions have been lifted correctly"
, he warned, assuring that this is "the final policy of the Islamic Republic".
