Nuclear program: Nuclear dispute: Iran wants to enrich uranium more quickly in protest

In the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, the international supervisory authority IAEA has increased the pressure, drawing the ire of the leadership in Tehran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned a critical resolution by the Atomic Energy Agency accusing Iran of a lack of cooperation – and announced that it would put new centrifuges into operation in order to be able to enrich uranium more quickly. Since highly enriched uranium is required to build nuclear warheads, there are fears that the Islamic Republic could, contrary to all assurances, seek nuclear weapons.

“This politically motivated and destructive resolution sabotages the beginning of Iran’s constructive cooperation with the IAEA,” the Foreign Ministry said in a press statement with the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency. The resolution is merely a pretext for the Western initiators to advance “their politically illegitimate goals” against Iran. As a first countermeasure, the Iranian Atomic Organization will put several new and modern centrifuges into operation to accelerate the uranium enrichment process.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar praised the IAEA resolution as an important part of diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The world must increase the pressure on Tehran, he demanded on Platform X.

Iran should answer questions – and if not?

In its resolution, the IAEA Board of Governors commissioned the head of the authority, Rafael Grossi, to deliver a report on unresolved questions about Iran’s nuclear program by spring. For years, IAEA inspectors have been demanding that Tehran provide conclusive explanations for traces that pointed to secret nuclear facilities and previous activities. If Tehran continues to fail to provide answers, Grossi’s report could serve as a basis for involving the UN Security Council, Western diplomats said.

While the Board of Governors cannot impose coercive measures, the Security Council would have the ability to impose new sanctions. However, the most powerful UN body has been politically blocked for some time, mainly because the veto states USA, Russia and China are preventing joint resolutions. Russia is receiving support in its war of aggression against Ukraine from China and Iran, which is supporting the Russian army with arms supplies.

The IAEA resolution was introduced by Germany, Great Britain, France and the United States. A total of 19 states voted in favor of the text in the Board of Governors, while 12 abstained. Russia, China and Burkina Faso rejected it.

There is hardly anything left of the Vienna nuclear agreement

Grossi said nuclear activity may have occurred in Iran in the past. However, there are doubts as to whether this was the case again recently. “We have no information that would confirm the presence of nuclear material,” he said.

According to its official doctrine, Iran does not seek nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the country produces uranium that is almost weapons-grade – which is viewed with suspicion, particularly in Israel, since both states are hostile to one another and are only about 1,000 kilometers apart. Last week, Grossi held talks with President Massoud Peseschkian and other top politicians in Tehran. According to Grossi, Iran agreed not to increase its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

The Vienna nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 was intended to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. After the USA withdrew from the hard-earned deal, Iran also gradually ignored all technical requirements in the agreement from May 2019. The country began enriching uranium more and producing uranium metal, started working with faster centrifuges and stored far more uranium than the nuclear deal allows.

How gas centrifuges work

In order to use naturally occurring uranium in nuclear power plants, the heavy metal must first be enriched. This means: The proportion of the fissile isotope 235 must be increased. Natural uranium only contains around 0.7 percent of this, the rest is non-fissile and therefore not needed uranium-238.

In gas centrifuges, at up to more than 70,000 revolutions per minute, the heavier U-238 atoms in the gaseous uranium hexafluoride are pushed to the edge of the tube, while the lighter U-235 collects in the middle. The isotopes are then removed separately. Since a centrifuge can only enrich to a very limited extent, many centrifuges are usually connected in series. To be used for energy production, the concentration of uranium-235 must be between two and five percent; for nuclear weapons it is often more than 90 percent.

Grossi warns Israel against attacks on nuclear facilities

After the Iranian missile attack on Israel on October 1st, the Israeli military responded with a counterstrike a few weeks later. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported in parliament that a component of Iran’s nuclear program had been damaged. He didn’t give any details. According to the US news site Axios, a facility in Parchin was destroyed. The facility was part of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program more than 20 years ago and was recently reactivated, the report said, citing Israeli and US officials. This has not been officially confirmed by any party.

Grossi called for compliance with international law. Nuclear facilities should not be targeted, he said on the sidelines of an IAEA meeting in Vienna. He hopes “that reason will prevail.” Grossi also announced talks with the Israeli government.

Lexicon of physics about gas centrifuge World Nuclear Association about enrichment process