Iran breaches Nuclear Deal by resuming 20% enrichment of Uranium at Fordow
Are we looking at times when there would be a threat of Nuclear War? In a recent update from Tehran, Iran has it plans to enrich uranium up to 20% at its underground Fordow nuclear facility “as soon as possible,” pushing its program a technical step away from weapons-grade levels as it increases pressure on the West over the tattered atomic deal.
A state-run news agency quoted that earlier this week President Hassan Rouhani had given the order for the move at the Fordow facility.
Nearly a decade ago when Iran had decided to begin enriching to 20%, that had brought an Israeli strike targeting its nuclear facilities. The tension between the two was only abated with the 2015 atomic deal which Iran seems to be violated again. A resumption of 20% enrichment could see that brinksmanship return. The 2015 deal saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief. That deal had also called for Fordow to be turned into a research-and-development facility.
This move could be the result of the increasing heat between the United States and Iran, which picked up after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. unilaterally from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. In the time since there have been a series of escalating incidents between the two countries, that was followed by a U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad a year ago, the recent move by Iran has American officials now worried about possible retaliation by Iran.
As the death anniversary of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad approached, the U.S. has sent B-52 bombers flying over the region and sent a nuclear-powered submarine into the Persian Gulf.
The U.S.-educated head of the civilian Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi offered a military analogy to describe his agency’s readiness to take the next step. He told Iranian state television, “The commander should command, and we shoot. We are ready for this and will produce (20% enriched uranium) as soon as possible.
All this was aimed at hiking enrichment to pressure Europe into providing sanctions relief. The decision comes after Iran’s parliament passed a bill, later approved by a constitutional watchdog. This will also serve as a pressure ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Biden, who has said he is willing to re-enter the nuclear deal.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) acknowledged Iran had informed its inspectors of the decision by a letter after news leaked overnight Friday.
Followed by that IAEA mentioned in a statement that “Iran has informed the agency that to comply with a legal act recently passed by the country’s parliament, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran intends to produce low-enriched uranium … up to 20 per cent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.” It further added that Iran did not say when it planned to boost enrichment, though the agency “has inspectors present in Iran on a 24/7 basis and they have regular access to Fordo.”
The parliamentary bill also called on Iran to expel those inspectors, though it appears Tehran still hasn’t decided to take that step.
Fordow is shielded by the mountains and is ringed by anti-aircraft guns and other fortifications. The whole site is about the size of a football field, large enough to house 3,000 centrifuges, but small and hardened enough to lead U.S. officials to suspect it had a military purpose when they exposed the site publicly in 2009.
Back then, the U.S. had worked on so-called “bunker-buster” bombs designed to strike such facilities. As Israel threatened at one point to bomb Iranian nuclear sites like Fordo, U.S. officials reportedly showed them a video of a bunker-buster bomb destroying a mock-up of Fordow in America’s southwestern desert.
As of now, Iran’s accorded limit is 3.67%, which it is breaching by enriching uranium up to 4.5%. That said Iran now has enough low-enriched uranium stockpiled for at least two nuclear weapons if it chose to pursue them. It has separately begun the construction on a new site at Fordo, according to satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press in December.
