Iran to enrich uranium to 60pc after Natanz blast

Iran has begun enriching uranium to 60pc, its deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said in Vienna today, one day after Tehran vowed revenge for what it called an act of sabotage by Israel at Natanz — one of its two main nuclear facilities — at the weekend.

Araqchi is in Vienna ahead of a second round of talks aimed at resurrecting the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal that former US president Donald Trump unilaterally left in 2018. That prompted Iran to begin gradually scaling back its own compliance from May 2019.

"Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its plan to start 60pc uranium enrichment as of Wednesday," Araqchi told Iran's state-owned English language news service Press TV.

This would represent a significant escalation by Iran, which has been enriching uranium up to 20pc purity since the start of the year. Although a 60pc uranium purity level would remain short of the 90pc needed for fissile material in a nuclear weapon, it would take Iran way above the 3.67pc level it was required to keep under the terms of the JCPOA. Iran first breached this level in July 2019.

An increase could complicate the Vienna talks after a first round last week that was was described by Tehran and Washington as constructive. Discussions will resume on 15 April, according to Russia's ambassador to Vienna-based international organisations, Mikhail Ulyanov. A successful conclusion could lead to the lifting of US sanctions that have cut off 2mn b/d of Iranian oil exports since 2018.

Araqchi said today that Iran also plans to add 1,000 new, more advanced, centrifuges "with 50pc more enrichment capacity" at Natanz, and replace all the centrifuges damaged in the weekend incident — an explosion that resulted in a massive power blackout.

These moves echo a statement by Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh earlier today that Iran will "remarkably" escalate the speed and scope of its JCPOA non-compliance in response to the event at Natanz. Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif yesterday lay the blame for that firmly on Israel, describing it as an attempt by Tel Aviv to derail the Vienna talks. Israel is strongly opposed to any attempts to revive the JCPOA.

The White House yesterday said that the US "was not involved in any manner. We have nothing to add on speculation about the causes or impacts."

By Nader Itayim