Tuesday, 05 January 2021 _Russia says Iran’s recent decision to enrich uranium to up to 20 percent has “nothing to overdramatize,” and that the country’s nuclear program is “fully transparent and verifiable.”
In a post on his Twitter account on Monday, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said, “We aren’t enthusiastic about further deviation of Tehran from its commitments under #JCPOA. But there is nothing to overdramatize. The nuclear programme remains fully transparent and verifiable.”
He was referring to the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), whose future has been in limbo since the unilateral US withdrawal and the European signatories’ inaction to save the accord.
The diplomat added, “We should focus on means to restore comprehensive implementation of the nuclear deal.”
The remarks came after Iran began the process of enriching uranium to 20 percent at Fordow facility near the city of Qom.
The measure was taken under a law, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, which has been already approved by the Parliament (Majlis).
The legislation requires the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to produce at least 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium annually and store it inside the country within two months.
It also urges the AEOI to start the installation, gas injection, enrichment and storage of nuclear materials up to an appropriate enrichment degree within a period of three months using at least 1,000 IR-2m centrifuges.