Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said that the issue of producing uranium enriched to 20% by IR4 centrifuges is nothing new and has been already reported to the IAEA, Mehr news reports.
The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi made the comments in an interview on Monday in response to a question about the producing uranium enriched to 20% purity level.
"As per the law passed by the parliament, the AEOI has a duty to reach 190,000 SWU of enrichment capacity based on a timetable. We had to set up a number of machines, so tinstalling this number of machines is in this direction," Kamalvandi said.
According to AEOI spokesman, "this is not a new issue and we had informed the agency about IR6 machines a long time ago."
He pointed out that western media report on the same issue in several stages, which include different stages of installation, setup, and producing enriched uranium, but basically, all these processes should be included in one category.
The senior nuclear officials added that the advanced IR6 machines have been inaugurated in Fordow nuclear facility and 5% enriched uranium is injected into them and 20% enriched uranium is produced by them.
He added that Iran has the right to enrich uranium to 20% and above as per the JCPOA's paragraphs 26 and 36 because of the breach of the commitments by the other parties, adding that whenever the other side decides to return to and implement their commitments, Iran is ready to fully abide by the nuclear deal.
The International Energy Atomic Agnecy (IAEA) said in a report on Saturday claimed by Reuters that Iran has escalated its uranium enrichment further with the use of advanced machines at its underground Fordow plant in a setup that can more easily change between enrichment levels.
Since the illegitimate and unilateral US withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018, Tehran has taken steps away from deal as the remedial measures and has said it will reverse course and will return to full compliance with the JCPOA once the sanctions are fully lifted.
The Vienna talks between the Iranian delegation and the delegations of the P4 + 1 (Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) with the indirect involvement of the United States, which is not a JCPOA participant anymore after its illegal withdrawal from the deal in May 2018 were paused on March 11 at the request of the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell amid the US refusal to lift the illegitimate anti-Iran sanctions.
After a several-month of pause in the Vienna talks, the negotiations resumed in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, June 28.
Iran has said the talks would continue and an agreement is within reach if the Western countries adopt a realistic approach and lift the sanctions on Tehran.
