Iran able to enrich uranium up to 60%, says atomic energy agency spokesman
(VOVWORLD) - Iran has the capacity to enrich uranium up to 60%, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Saturday, far more than is required for most civilian uses but short of the 90% needed to make nuclear bomb fuel.
 Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran, on September 7, 2019. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS |
“The organization has the possibility to produce 5%, 20% and 60%, and has this capacity,” AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said during a news conference at the underground Fordow nuclear plant, the official IRIB news agency reported. “At the moment, the need is for 5%,” he added.
Iran’s highest political authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last month that the Islamic Republic had never pursued the building or use of nuclear weapons, which its religion forbids.
Iran said on Thursday it had resumed uranium enrichment at Fordow, stepping further away from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after the United States pulled out of it.