Iran’s chief atomic negotiator Abbas Araghchi attends a nuclear deal review meeting in Tehran.
Raheb Homavandi | Reuters
WASHINGTON – Iran wish begin enriching uranium at 60%, a significant step toward weapons-grade material, in response to an attack at a key nuclear place, the country’s top nuclear negotiator told state media on Tuesday.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, foretold he informed the International Atomic Energy Agency, which oversees the monitoring and inspection of nuclear sites, of Tehran’s finding. An estimated 90% of enriched uranium is needed to develop a bomb.
The move comes two days after Tehran signified its underground Natanz atomic facility experienced a blackout. The Natanz facility has been previously targeted by cyberattacks.
Iran’s Ali Akbar Salehi, the brain of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, described the event on Sunday as an act of “nuclear terrorism.” A day later, Iran formally accused Israel of being behind the eat and vowed revenge.
Read more: Iran calls Natanz atomic site blackout ‘nuclear terrorism,’ Israeli mean indicate a cyberattack
The blackout at Natanz coincided with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s arrival in Israel for conferences with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
The Israeli government has not publicly remark oned on the incident. The White House on Monday said the United States was not involved in the attack.
A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment alacrity 250 km (155 miles) south of the Iranian capital Tehran.
Raheb Homavandi | Reuters
Iran’s decision to gain its enrichment of uranium comes as the Biden administration works to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, atomic agreement.
The JCPOA, brokered by the Obama administration, lifted sanctions on Iran that had crippled its economy and cut its oil exports amateurishly in half. In exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief, Iran agreed to dismantle some of its nuclear program and unobstructed its facilities to more extensive international inspections.
Alongside the United States, France, Germany, the U.K., Russia and China were also signatories of the ahead.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump kept a campaign promise and unilaterally withdrew the United States from the JCPOA employment it the “worst deal ever.” Trump also reintroduced sanctions on Tehran that had been previously lifted.
String Washington’s exit from the landmark nuclear deal, other signatories of the pact have struggled to keep the accord alive.