Iran says it is opening 'advanced' centrifuges after IAEA accusation | Nuclear Weapons News

The UN nuclear watchdog is criticizing Iran for failing to fully cooperate and demanding answers over the uranium found in two locations.

Iran has said it will open “new and advanced” centrifuges in response to a decision taken by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board that criticized it for a lack of cooperation.

The proposal was made by France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States to the 35-nation United Nations nuclear watchdog and follows a similar one in June, which Iran criticized as “hasty and unwise”.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the decision and said on Friday that Iran's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, had ordered the introduction of new and advanced centrifuges, powerful machines that spin rapidly to enrich uranium.

The joint statement added that “the IAEA's technical and defense cooperation will continue, as before” and within the framework of the agreements made by Iran.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi this week criticized efforts by European countries to pass a fourth resolution starting in 2020, saying it would “complicate” nuclear talks.

The decision underscored the “deep concern” of IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi about the presence of “undeclared nuclear material” in “numerous undeclared locations” in the country.

It also pointed to Grossi's findings “that the nuclear material used in Iran was not declared as required” under the country's safeguards agreement outlined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

But Grossi revealed during his trip to Tehran last week that he was busy exploring.

Iran had agreed to the IAEA's demand to cap its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to only 60 percent purity, below the weapons-grade enrichment level of 90 percent needed to detonate a bomb.

Nineteen members of the IAEA board voted for the decision. Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed it, with 12 bowing out and one not voting, said diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the closed vote.

China and Russia have voted against all previous alternatives to censure Iran at the IAEA, including 2020, 2022 and June 2024.

The impeachment move comes as US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House.

Trump's first term in office was marked by a particularly tense period with Iran, when he pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, which ultimately led to Washington's unilateral decision to withdraw from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

In response, Iran increased its nuclear arsenal.

Secret reports from the IAEA to member states, leaked to the media this week, revealed that Iran has ignored international demands to rein in its nuclear program.

Earlier the UN watchdog named two places near Tehran – Varamin and Turquzabad – where there were traces of uranium being processed, according to IAEA inspectors.

The resolution called on Iran to provide “credible explanations” for the presence of uranium particles at two undeclared sites. The IAEA is expected to continue its discussions on Friday.