Iran to use more advanced centrifuges in third step: nuclear cmte. chief

Chairman of Iranian Parliament’s Nuclear Committee says Iran is ready to use more modern centrifuges in the third phase of scaling back its nuclear deal commitments.

“In the third phase, we will have many options, including the adoption of advanced centrifuges,” Mohammad Ebrahim Rezaei told Mehr News Agency on Saturday.

“While we are still using the old IR1 centrifuges, the more advanced ones, namely the IR6 and IR8 centrifuges, are ready for implementation,” he said, adding that the new domestically-manufactured centrifuge machines have the capacity to increase the capacity to enrich uranium 26 to 48 times more than the existing IR-1 machines.

Tehran has rowed back on its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

As a first step, Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA.

In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA-limit of 3.76 percent.

Iran has said its reciprocal measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the Iranian economy from unilateral US sanctions which were imposed last year when President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal.

This is while, according to Rezaei, European signatories of the JCPOA have so far failed to uphold their commitments. They have expressed vocal support for the deal but failed to provide meaningful economic incentives as required under the nuclear agreement.

Tehran has also warned that it may push forward with 20% uranium enrichment and resume previous activities at the Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor in a third nuclear commitment containment.

Rezaei said the Western countries should be aware that Iran slowed down its nuclear developments and halted some of its centrifuges to fulfill its JCPOA commitments, while such measures are "all reversible" and the country will resume them step by step.

Source: Mehr