Last Update: February 20, 2023, 07:56 IST
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned earlier in January that Iran has enough nuclear material to build several nuclear weapons (Image: Reuters)
IAEA officials said they found the uranium enriched to 84 percent purity. Uranium needs to be enriched to 90% limit to become a weapon
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Sunday it was in discussions with Iran after a media report said inspectors had found the Islamic republic had advanced nuclear enrichment.
Last week, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in Iran found uranium enriched to 84 percent purity, Bloomberg News reported.
Iran has been known to enrich up to 60 percent in the past, while the 90 percent threshold is required for weapon use.
The report comes as talks stalled to revive a landmark deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
“The IAEA is aware of recent media reports concerning uranium enrichment levels in Iran,” the Vienna-based agency wrote on Twitter.
It said it was “discussing the results of recent agency verification activities with Iran and will inform the IAEA Board of Governors as appropriate”.
Iran began ramping up its nuclear activities in 2019, a year after then-US President Donald Trump pulled out of the landmark deal and reinstated sanctions.
The 2015 accord promised Iran sanctions relief in exchange for reducing its nuclear program.
Talks between world powers to return to the deal were due to begin in 2021 but have been stalled since last year.
Bloomberg said, “Inspectors need to determine whether Iran intentionally produced the material, or whether the concentration was an unintentional accumulation.
“This is the second time this month that monitors have detected suspicious activities related to promotion,” it added.
In January, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that Iran had “accumulated enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons – not even one at this point”.
In December, Iran said that its uranium enrichment capacity had increased to a record level.
Tehran has repeatedly insisted that it is not planning to build an atomic bomb.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)