Tehran, Apr 14: After accusing Israel of sabotaging a key nuclear installation, Iran has announced that it will start enriching uranium to 60 pc purity. The move will bring the fissile material closer to levels suitable for a bomb.
A fissile purity of 90 pc is suitable for a nuclear bomb. The disclosure came soon before the resumption of talks in Vienna aimed at reviving Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, an accord Israel fiercely opposed, after former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned it in 2018.
The Chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi announced 60 pc enrichment and said Iran would activate 1,000 advanced centrifuge machines at Natanz, a nuclear plant hit by an explosion on Apr 11, that Tehran called an act of sabotage by Israel.
REUTERS has quoted Iranian nuclear agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi saying that, “From tonight, practical preparations for 60 pc enrichment will begin in Natanz; 60 pc uranium is used to make a variety of radiopharmaceuticals.”