Western nations condemn Iran’s increased uranium enrichment

• Western nations condemn Iran’s increased production of highly enriched uranium.
• Iran claims its actions are within regulations and denies nuclear weapons ambitions.
• Recent tensions include accusations of escalating the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Western nations denounced Iran’s move to increase highly enriched uranium production on Thursday, after a watchdog reported that the country had resumed production after many months of decline.

In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, and the US said they “condemn this measure that further aggravates the continued escalation of the Iranian nuclear program,” adding that “Iran’s production of highly enriched uranium has no credible civilian justification.”

The announcement was made two days after a study by the International Atomic Energy Agency claimed that Iran had “increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023.”

Since the end of November, Iran has upped its production of 60 percent enriched uranium to about nine kilos (20 pounds) per month, according to the UN monitor.

That is a return to the nine kilograms per month it was generating during the first half of 2023, up from roughly three kilograms per month since June.

The Western countries warned of “significant proliferation risks” in their statement released on Thursday, stating that “these developments constitute a step in a bad direction on the part of Iran.”

“These decisions show the absence of will on the part of Iran to engage in a de-escalation in good faith and result in irresponsible behavior in the context of regional tensions,” the statement said.

Iran’s top nuclear official, Mohammad Eslami, responded to the IAEA assessment by saying, “We have done nothing new, and our activity is according to the regulations.”

For use in a nuclear weapon, enrichment levels must be at least 90%.

As a show of goodwill, Iran seems to have delayed its enrichment while informal negotiations with the US to reestablish the nuclear accord have picked back up.

However, tensions between the two nations have risen recently as they both accuse each other of escalating the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

A year after US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and reinstated broad penalties, Iran ceased to comply with the restrictions on its nuclear operations imposed by a 2015 nuclear agreement with global powers.

Since then, it has increased its enriched uranium stockpile to 22 times the amount allowed by the agreement, according to a confidential IAEA report obtained by AFP last month.

Iran has continuously maintained that its actions are wholly benign and denied having any desire to acquire the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

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