On Tuesday, Iranian officials asserted that the theocratic terror-supporting regime in Iran could produce 20% uranium in two days or less.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, boasted, “If Iran decides, it can have 20% enriched fuel within one to two days.” He added, “If the signatory states to the nuclear deal delay selling the 20% (enriched nuclear) fuel, it is Iran’s right to provide its needed fuel,” according to the Times of Israel, which added, “Uranium needs to be enriched to 90% to be used in a nuclear weapon and 20% purity is considered an important benchmark toward reaching weapons grade level.”
On Monday, Kamalvandi stated, “Iran’s uranium stockpile is on the rise and its heavy water equipment are working with full capacity,” according to Radio Farda. He added, “With the continuation of the inaction of the Europeans in carrying out their commitments [to the nuclear deal] … Iran will take a third step [in reducing commitments] in approximately one month,” as The Hill reported. The Hill noted, “Kamalvandi did not specify what Iran’s next violation would be, but Tehran warned last month it could reactivate centrifuge machines and ramp up enrichment of uranium even further.”
The Daily Mail noted that the 2015 nuclear deal that Great Britain, China, France, Russia, Germany and the United States reached with Iran which President Trump exited in 2018 stated that Iran is permitted to enrich fuel by 3.67%, but a U.N. watchdog warned that Iran is already enriching uranium up to 4.5%.
Also on Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blustered, “In principle, we don’t want bilateral talks with the United States. If the United States lifts all sanctions, it would be possible to talk (with them) during 5+1 meetings as in the past.”
Last May, according to the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency, Kamalvandi announced that Iran had quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity, saying, “We will soon be crossing the 300-kg limit in several weeks.” He added, “Iran can resume 20 percent enrichment within four days. Whether to conduct the 20-percent enrichment in Natanz or in Fordow is a question that needs to be considered by the Committee to Monitor and Supervise Implementation of the JCPOA at the Iranian Supreme National Security Council.”
Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, said, “The comparison here is they were already going 55 miles per hour and heading towards a busted bridge. And so what the AEOI is saying is that they threw a brick on the accelerator. They would have eventually breached the threshold. What they’re saying today is they are deliberately and intentionally trying to breach the threshold faster.”
Two weeks before that, The New York Times reported:
Mr. Rouhani said that starting on Wednesday, Iran would begin to build up its stockpiles of low enriched uranium and of heavy water, which is used in nuclear reactors — including a reactor that could give Iran a source of bomb-grade plutonium. If the Europeans fail to compensate for the unilateral American sanctions, he said, Iran will resume construction of the Arak nuclear reactor, a facility that was shut down, and its key components dismantled, under the deal. Mr. Rouhani then threatened a potentially more severe step. If the Europeans do not find a way to help Iran “reap our benefits,” especially in petroleum exports and banking transactions, in 60 days Iran will end the limits on the enrichment of uranium, he said.