The United Kingdom, France and Germany on Tuesday called on Iran to “reverse its nuclear escalation,” claiming that there is no “credible civilian justification” for the amount of highly enriched uranium it is stockpiling, AFP reported.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran has already become the only non-nuclear state to have uranium enriched to 60%, just a short step from military-grade level.
In a joint statement ahead of a UN Security Council meeting, the three countries warned that “Iran’s stockpile of High Enriched Uranium has … reached unprecedented levels, again without any credible civilian justification. It gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
The trio added: “Iran has ramped up its installation of advanced centrifuges, which is yet another damaging step in Iran’s efforts to undermine the nuclear deal that they claim to support.”
London, Paris and Berlin on Dec. 6 informed the Security Council of their willingness to reimpose “snap back” sanctions on Iran over its illicit nuclear program.
“Iran must de-escalate its nuclear program to create the political environment conducive to meaningful progress and a negotiated solution,” the UN ambassadors of the so-called E3 countries wrote in letter to the Security Council.
“We reiterate our determination to use all diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including using snap back if necessary,” they added.
The threat comes after IAEA head Rafael Grossi confirmed that Tehran has in recent weeks sharply increased its uranium enrichment.
“Today the agency is announcing that the [Iranian] production capacity is increasing dramatically, of the 60% inventory,” said Grossi at the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain on Dec. 6.
The Islamic Republic already has enough 60% enriched uranium for four nuclear weapons in principle, should Tehran decide to enrich it further to the roughly 90% level needed, according to Reuters.
Enrichment is set to rise to “seven, eight times more, maybe, or even more” than the previous rate of five to seven kilograms a month, said Grossi, according to the report.
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