Iran Extends Nuclear Facilities Violating Deal, Report Shows
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VIENNA/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Tensions rose Thursday between Iran and the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog after revelations that Tehran is installing advanced IR-6 centrifuges in a cluster at an underground enrichment plant.
A 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers only lets Iran use first-generation IR-1 machines, but Iran is placing cascades of more advanced centrifuges, like the IR-2m and IR-4.
The moves were explained in a confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report sent to member states.
The leaked report emerged before the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors this week condemned Iran for failing to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites.
Earlier on Wednesday, before the board voted for the resolution condemning Iran, Tehran warned it would “shut down” two IAEA cameras at an unspecified enrichment plant.
However, Iran’s commercial-scale Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz is its biggest and was built underground, apparently to protect it from potential aerial bombardment.
“HORRIBLE ACCORD”
Israel has expressed concern trust Iran, which seeks the Jewish state’s destruction, may be able to have nuclear bomb capabilities soon, worries shared by IAEA investigators.
The White House said in late April that it is worried that Iran could develop a nuclear bomb within weeks.
Critics of the previous U.S. administration linked Iran’s actions to Washington’s withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under President Donald Trump.
But Trump defended walking away from what he called the “horrible” accord, saying at the time: “If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. In just a short period of time, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons.”
The nuclear deal, officially known as the ‘Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,’ was reached in Vienna in 2015 between Iran and a group of world powers known as the P5+1 – the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany.
Under the accord, Iran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more international inspections in exchange for billions of dollars worth of sanctions relief.
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