Advanced Centrifuges Operated in Reaction to Sanctions: Iran Nuclear Chief
Following the imposition of fresh US sanctions, Iran began to inject uranium gas into advanced centrifuge machines to prove its determination to protect the Iranian nation’s interests and have the sanctions terminated, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mohammad Eslami reiterated that all of Iran’s nuclear activities conform with the Safeguards Agreement and the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
He said Iran has begun to inject uranium gas into its advanced centrifuge machines in response to the new US sanctions and in accordance with the ‘Strategic Action’ on lifting the sanctions and safeguarding national interests, ratified by the Parliament in October 2020.
Eslami emphasized that Iran has activated the new centrifuges to prove that it is determined to have the sanctions lifted and spare no effort to safeguard the Iranian nation’s interests.
The senior nuclear official also noted that the UN nuclear agency’s surveillance cameras recording data beyond the Safeguards Agreement in Iran have been turned off because they were supposed to monitor the limitations on Iran’s nuclear program under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
When the other party has failed to honor the JCPOA, there is no reason for Iran to remain unilaterally committed to something like an obsolete deal, Eslami stated.
He underlined that Iran will not allow the activation of those cameras as long as the other side repeats accusations against Tehran and refrains from fulfilling its commitments.
On Monday, US Treasury and State Department imposed sanctions on a total of six companies, four based in Hong Kong, one in Singapore, and one in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The US said the firms have helped Iran sell tens of millions of dollars in oil and petrochemical products to East Asian countries.
Later in the day, Iran said it was beginning to feed gas into hundreds of advanced IR-1 and IR-6 machines after notifying the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).