Iran Accelerates Production Of Enriched Uranium As Tensions Rise

(Yahoo! Finance) Golnar Motevalli May 20 2019 Iran has accelerated the rate at which its enriching low-grade uranium four-fold weeks after threatening to gradually scale back its commitments under a 2015 deal meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear bomb. The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi an official at Irans Atomic Energy Organization as saying that Iran had increased its output of 3.67 enriched uranium as of Monday and that the United Nations nuclear watchdog had been informed. The number of active centrifuges has not been raised it added. Crucially Iran hasnt increased the level to which it is enriching beyond the agreed limit. This issue does not mean that there is an increase in the purity of the material or that theres an increase in the number of centrifuge machines or that theres a change in the type of centrifuges" Kamalvandi said according the Tasmin. Tehran has already announced it stopped complying with a 300-kilogram cap on the storage of enriched uranium and heavy water imposed by the multilateral accord and said it would abandon limits on uranium enrichment unless Europe throws it an economic lifeline within 60 days setting an ultimatum for the survival of the landmark agreement. Tensions in the Gulf have spiked since the U.S. stopped granting waivers to buyers of Iranian oil early this month tightening sanctions slapped on the Islamic Republic after President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear deal a year ago. With an economic crisis looming Iran announced on May 8 it would gradually withdraw from the agreement unless the remaining parties find a way to ease its pain. That was followed last week by so far unexplained sabotage attacks against four vessels including two Saudi oil tankers heading toward the Gulf and a drone attack by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels against Saudi pumping stations which forced the temporary suspension of an east-west pipeline.