US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented on the Iranian nuclear enrichment plan in a press conference at NATO headquarters, where he was present to hold official talks with NATO officials. In his statement, the US top diplomat labeled the Iranian plan to enrich uranium up to 60% as ‘provocative’. According to his statements, the Iranian move casts doubt on the country’s seriousness regarding reviving the 2015 nuclear talks which have already been proceeding in Vienna.
Blinken also called on the P5+1, comprising of China, Russia, France, the UK, and Germany, alongside the US, to exhibit a common attitude against Iran’s move and reject it.
Blinken also emphasized that the two countries have determined a joint point to return to the nuclear deal. In this sense, he said, “We’ve been engaged constructively in a diplomatic process to achieve that goal, and at the end of last week we explored concrete approaches that we could take, in order to establish steps that the United States and Iran would take to return to compliance.”
On Tuesday, Iran briefed the international nuclear observer about its plan to accelerate its uranium enrichment process. The Iranian move came after the attack against the Natanz nuclear facility, located in the Isfahan province. Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack.
On the other hand, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran informed them about its intention to start a uranium enrichment process. By this, Iran aims to enrich uranium by 60%. Since the beginning of 2021, Iran has been enriching uranium up to 20% despite the fact that it agreed to limit this amount to only 3.67% under the nuclear deal.
