Tehran – Iran has resumed small-scale enrichment of uranium, a senior nuclear negotiator said Tuesday, showing that the country was determined to proceed with its atomic development despite international moves to restrict it.
The world has long sought to stop Iran from enriching uranium, fearing that the process would bring it to the threshold of possessing nuclear bombs.
Russia and France immediately called on Iran to halt its work and fulfill the demands of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, according to a joint statement posted on the Kremlin’s website.
On Feb. 4, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council and simultaneously called on its government to suspend all enrichment-related activities. The Security Council has the power to impose political and economic sanctions on Iran.
In response, the Iranian government suspended certain aspects of its cooperation with the IAEA and steamed ahead with enrichment.
The deputy secretary of the Supreme National Council, Javad Vaeidi, told reporters that enrichment of uranium resumed last week at Iran’s main enrichment plant in Natanz.
Asked whether Iran had resumed large-scale enrichment, as required for producing fuel for nuclear reactors, Vaeidi replied, “No.”
“We need time to have 60,000 centrifuges,” he said, referring to the devices used in the enrichment process, which can produce fuel for generating electricity or for an atomic bomb.
In their joint statement, Russia and France recognized Iran’s legitimate right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program for energy.
However, they called on Iran to “fully comply with the February resolution and the demands of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including on uranium enrichment.”
The statement was adopted during a visit to Moscow by French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
