VIENNA -- Iran has increased the rate at which it is producing near weapons grade uranium in recent weeks, reversing a previous slowdown that started in the middle of this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report to member states.
Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in the report that Iran "in recent weeks had increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023," according to an IAEA spokesperson Sunday.
Iran had previously slowed down the rate at which it was enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity. Uranium enriched at 60 per cent purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.
The UN nuclear watchdog said its inspectors had verified the increased rate of production since the end of November at facilities in Natanz and Fordow to about nine kilograms per month, up from three kilograms per month since June and representing a return to earlier levels of production.
Enriching uranium means increasing the percentage of uranium-235, the isotope of uranium that can be used in nuclear fission.
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Associated Press writer Stephanie Liechtenstein contributed to this report.
