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Iran enriches uranium at Natanz with additional centrifuges, reports IAEA

The second of three cascades of up to 174 machines each is enriching uranium to up to 5% fissile purity, it said.

Natanz
Uranium enrichment centrifuges at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. Credit: Tehran Times.

Reuters saw a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday that said Iran has started to enrich uranium with the second of three clusters of advanced IR-6 centrifuges recently installed at an underground plant in Natanz.

According to the confidential report to member states, the second of the three cascades of up to 174 machines each is enriching uranium to up to 5% fissile purity. The third has apparently not been fed with nuclear material.

On Monday, a different source stated that the first cascade had been activated.

Meanwhile, Iran needs firmer guarantees from Washington, said its foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on Wednesday in Moscow. He added that the IAEA should stop its “politically motivated probes” of Tehran.

“Iran is carefully reviewing the E.U.-drafted text. ... We need stronger guarantees from the other party to have a sustainable deal,” he said, reported Reuters.

“We’re here to ensure that another 9/11 never happens again, and we’re not afraid to address that the reason 9/11 happened was because of radical Islamic terrorism,” Jayne Zirkle of Lawfare Project told JNS.
The Israeli military pushed back against charges from the U.N. chief regarding strikes targeting Hezbollah strongholds north of the border.
U.K. officials attached to missions in Kiryat Gat and Ramallah were told to halt their operations immediately, an Israeli source told JNS.
CENTCOM confirmed that no American personnel were injured when Tehran launched ballistic missiles at a naval craft in regional waters this week.