On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrooz Kamalvandi, announced that his country began to test the next-generation IR-9 centrifuge that is 50 times more powerful comparing to the IR-1 centrifuge for enriching uranium.
Speaking to the Iranian media, spokesperson Kamalvandi said that: “There is progress in uranium enrichment, we have started mechanical tests of the IR-9 centrifuge with of 50 SWU”.
The move came amid the international conference that would focus on reviving the 2015 nuclear accord has started today in Austria’s capital, Vienna.
Recently, it has been reported that Iran restarted to uranium enrichment by using the fourth cluster of advanced IR-2m centrifuges at the country’s main nuclear facility.
According to the provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015, Iran was allowed to use only first-generation centrifuges in the uranium enrichment process at the facility located in Natanz. After the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, which is a move initiated by former US President Donald Trump, Iran started not to fulfill its obligations under the agreement and started to use more advanced centrifuges in enriching uranium.
