Iran plans to enrich uranium to 4.5 percent at its Fordow nuclear facility by Saturday as part of its fourth stage of reducing obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said
TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2019) Iran plans to enrich uranium to 4.5 percent at its Fordow nuclear facility by Saturday as part of its fourth stage of reducing obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said.On Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran would start injecting gas into centrifuges at the Fordow facility, marking the fourth time Iran would step away from its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. That same day, Iran's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said Tehran would enrich uranium up to 5 percent at Fordow.
"By Saturday, when the IAEA [the International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors arrive [at Fordow] we will reach a 4.5 percent level of uranium enrichment," Kamalvandi told Iran's IRINN broadcaster.
The spokesman also said that the materials needed to enrich the uranium had already been delivered to Fordow.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's ISNA news agency said that Tehran had begun injecting gas into centrifuges at the facility.
Under the JCPOA, Iran is supposed to repurpose its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant as a center for the production of stable isotopes, refraining from enriching uranium and leaving Natanz as the only uranium enrichment facility.
Iran announced the gradual reduction of its JCPOA obligations on May 8, which marked the first anniversary of the US' unilateral pullout from the pact. Tehran then said that it would start abandoning some parts of its nuclear obligations every 60 days unless European signatories to the deal ensured Iran's interests amid Washington's reinstated sanctions.
