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Iran announces higher uranium enrichment in response to US sanctions
Announcement: Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
IRAN announced today that it will enrich uranium at levels higher than the limit agreed in a deteriorating 2015 nuclear development treaty.
Nuclear agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said that enrichment above the previously agreed 3.67 per cent would begin “within hours” in response to US President Donald Trump’s abandonment of the agreement and imposition of harsh sanctions on Tehran.
Initially the enrichment will be increased to 5 per cent — far short of the 90 per cent level required for nuclear weapons. Iran has always insisted that its nuclear programme is for civil energy purposes only.
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