The Iranian authorities have recently begun to actively increase the production of enriched uranium. This could pave the way for her to develop nuclear weapons.
Reuters writes about this with reference to the IAEA report, which is not yet public.
Iranian authorities have begun rapidly ramping up their uranium enrichment capabilities with advanced centrifuges at an underground plant in Natang.
According to the IAEA report, Tehran continues to put more and more advanced centrifuges into operation, despite the ban imposed by the nuclear deal.
These centrifuges are far more efficient than, for example, the first-generation IR-1, the only centrifuge Iran can use under the deal to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The IAEA also emphasizes that the negotiations between the United States and Iran regarding the renewal of the agreement have reached an impasse.
- On November 27, 2020, in Iran, in the vicinity of Tehran, the scientist Moshen Fakhrizadeh, who was called the "father of the Iranian atomic bomb", was shot. The media reported that the scientist was shot with a remote control machine gun that was in the car. Iran directly accused Israel of the murder.
- On the night of April 11, 2021, an accident occurred at an underground factory in the city of Natanzi in Iran. The light suddenly went out at the nuclear facility where uranium is enriched. Iran announced a terrorist attack, and the media reported that the plant was attacked by hackers on behalf of the Israeli Mossad. Israel has not officially confirmed or denied its involvement.
- On April 10, the plant launched new 164 IR-6 and 30 IR-5 centrifuges, which can enrich uranium faster. The launch was watched by President Hassan Rouhani. He repeatedly stated that Iranʼs nuclear program has an exclusively peaceful purpose and is not aimed at creating weapons.
- It was later revealed that the accident disabled more than a thousand centrifuges for enriching and purifying uranium, and also destroyed the ground power system. Iran blamed Israel for the accident.