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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Thursday that there were no casualties in Shahid Ahmadi Rowshan Natanz Complex as a result of the incident occurred this morning, and the normal process of enrichment continues far from the site of the incident.

He further noted that on Thursday, around 2:00 o’clock, an incident occurred, as a result of which material damage was caused but, thanks God, there were no casualties.

There has been no nuclear material at the site, so there has been no pollution, contrary to the propaganda and rumors of the dissident and counterrevolutionary media that speak of pollution, he said.

Noting that production of enrichment materials at this important site continues unabated, he said that the experts are investigating to determine the cause of the accident and extent of damages.

“We have started enrichment since Iran’s move to scale down commitments, and currently we have no commitment both in terms of the level of and amount of enrichment, and we are now producing materials over 3.67 percent and above 300 kilograms,” he said.

Kamalvandi said the incident in Natanz nuclear site did not affect its centrifuge operation or cause any release of radiation.

Pre-fabricated steel framework of Natanz out-door site has broken, he added.

Some rumors have been spread by the opposition media claiming spread of pollution, which is not true at all, Kamalvandi added.

Expert teams from the AEOI have been deployed to investigate the factors leading to the damage of the pre-fabricated steel framework, he added.

Ali Akbar Salehi, Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization, was also present in the site, the spokesman said, adding the AEOI experts are investigating the issue.

The enrichment site has not interrupted performance, and the site continues to do so, he said.

A fire broke out early Thursday at a building above Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Officials said it did not affect its centrifuge operation or cause any release of radiation.

Meanwhile Head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali yesterday said that very limited cyberattacks waged against facilities of the country since the start of the current Iranian year (March 20).

Security is never absolute and there are always ways to penetrate it, he said, adding, “modern and up-to-date technologies, in addition to rendering quality services to people, are threatening due to their advanced and intelligent cyber elements.”

Turning to this point that new technologies are a combination of threats and opportunities, he stated, “for instance, social networks are one of the essential functions of people and everyone uses them but social networks, that are dominated by foreign countries, are used to control people of other countries, create chaos and disrupt the order of countries.”

In general, social networks, which are controlled and dominated by foreign countries, are used for security and economic attacks, Brigadier General Jalali added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said, “we use nuclear technology for medical diagnosis and treatment but ignoring the safety issues of this technology can be harmful.”

Safety and security considerations are usually divided into three layers, he said, adding, “the first layer is safety while the other layer is security. The third is war and defense layer, in which, enemy and threat are raised.”

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According To Iran News, The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is helping the country’s medical society in the battle with the coronavirus, a spokesperson said.

Behrouz Kamalvandi said in an interview with YJC that the atomic organization has used all of its potential over the past weeks to assist medical centers in coping with the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The AEOI has been working round the clock to sterilize medical equipment, particularly face masks and hospital gowns, he added.

Although Iran is faced with many international pressures to obtain a series of raw materials, these problems have not affected the supply chain in nuclear pharmacy, Kamalvandi further said, adding that all needed products and services have been provided for the medical centers.

“Around one million patients that go to the country’s medical centers to receive nuclear medicine services are practically using the radiopharmaceuticals provided by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran,” he noted.

Kamalvandi also expressed the AEOI’s readiness to launch plans for the production of coronavirus diagnostic test kits.

In recent years, Iranian scientists have made remarkable progress in the field of peaceful nuclear technology despite the sanctions imposed by the West.

Earlier this month, the AEOI said it was going to mark the National Nuclear Technology Day by unveiling 122 new achievements of the country’s nuclear scientists, but decided to postpone the ceremony due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

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Spokesman for Iran’s nuclear energy organization said on Sunday the country is nearing the stage where it has to quit its technical commitments to the JCPOA if the European side fails to change tactics regarding its own commitments to the deal.

“We have practically reached the end regarding the technical aspect [of the nuclear agreement]. Except for Fordow and consumed fuel, there is no other issue left,” Kamalvandi said.

“The other side has finally grasped the seriousness of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and as such, we expect them to cast aside their doubts and uncertainties, because our messages have been clear and strong. We hope that [the messages] leave the necessary effect on the other sides, particularly the European ones,” he added.

Kamalvandi further stressed that Iran’s retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from US sanctions.

As a third step in Iran’s reduction of commitments under the deal, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Saturday it has activated 20 IR-4 and 20 IR-6 centrifuges for research and development purposes.

The third step comes after the Europeans failed to meet a 60-day deadline to meet Iran’s demands and fulfill their commitments under the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

About the visit of Acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to Iran today, Kamalvandi said “the role of the IAEA is to reflect [our] measures. Naturally, they have been aware that Iran was going to take the third step and the reports by the Agency all attest to our compliance with our commitments.”

Cornel Feruta, acting head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, is in Iran today. He has hold talks with Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and is to meet Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani on Iran-IAEA ongoing cooperation.

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He also said that Washington is trying to force Iran to abandon the nuclear deal and push the European Union towards reimposing sanctions.

“The United States is pursuing an obvious objective: to force Iran to abandon the nuclear deal altogether and therefore pushes Europeans towards restoring the anti-Iran package of restrictive measures under US control. The White House hopes to achieve a regime change in Tehran by reimposing the US and EU sanctions, strengthening Iran’s political isolation and whipping up tensions in the Persian Gulf region in general,” he said.

He also said that Washington’s willingness to hold talks with Iran should not be taken seriously.

“Unlike North Korea, Iran has neither nuclear weapons nor missiles capable of reaching US territory. So, the only direct dialogue with Tehran that Washington could foster is unconditional surrender [under the US scenario],” he said.

Commenting on Iran’s action in reducing commitments under the JCPOA, Slutsky said that was “a response to new US anti-Iran sanctions and the EU’s inability to launch the promised financial mechanism to bypass them and compensate for losses from Washington’s policy to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero.”

On Thursday, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran is taking the third step of reducing its commitments under the nuclear deal. According to Rouhani, the new step removes limits on nuclear research and development (R&D).

Iran officially started on Friday the third step in reducing its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi  said on Saturday, September 7.

He said under the third step, the agency activated 20 IR-4 and 20 IR-6 centrifuges on Friday.

In a letter to the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran will begin unlimited nuclear research and development work from Friday, officially unleashing the third stage of its measured responses to Europe’s lack of action in the face of Washington’s violation of the nuclear deal.

Zarif’s letter came after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the country will expand its nuclear research and development as of September 6, setting aside the restrictions imposed on the country’s research and development (R&D) in the JCPOA.

Iran is further scaling back its commitments under the JCPOA due to the inability of its three European signatories — the UK, France and Germany — to meet their end of the bargain.

Upon announcing his withdrawal from the JCPOA, US President Trump called it the “worst deal ever” and pledged to force Iran through sanctions into renegotiating a new agreement that addresses its ballistic missiles and regional influence.

The Trump administration has ever since targeted Iran’s industry and oil exports with various sanctions in a bid to cripple its economy.

Wary of possible penalties, Europe has failed to deliver on its pledge to save mutual trade by enacting a special payment channel that protects European firms from US sanctions months after unveiling it in January.

Fed up with the foot-dragging, Iran announced the first stage of its countermeasures in May by increasing its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300-kilogram cap set by the agreement.

The Islamic Republic took the second step two months later, when it started to enrich uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA limit of 3.76 percent.

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He said under the third step, the agency activated 20 IR-4 and 20 IR-6 centrifuges on Friday.

“We have injected gas into a 20-set cascade of IR6 centrifuges since yesterday and assembling the 30-set cascade is our next plan.”

The country, however, will allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to continue monitoring its nuclear program, he added.

According to the AEOI spokesman, four other measures, including launching the middle-cascade of IR2m which was due to be done in 2026 and injecting gas into a 10-set cascade of IR5s centrifuges, are still remaining which will be done within almost two months.

The measures were adopted after the Islamic Republic’s announcement of further reduction in its commitments under the JCPOA.

In a letter to the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran will begin unlimited nuclear research and development work from Friday, officially unleashing the third stage of its measured responses to Europe’s lack of action in the face of Washington’s violation of the nuclear deal.
Zarif’s letter came after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the country will expand its nuclear research and development as of September 6, setting aside the restrictions imposed on the country’s research and development (R&D) in the JCPOA.

“We took the first step in reducing our commitments, and gave the P4+1 a two-month deadline. Then we went ahead with the second phase, giving them another two-month deadline. In the four-month period, we held negotiations with the G4+1, including the European Union and the three European countries in particular,” Rouhani said.

Iran is further scaling back its commitments under the JCPOA due to the inability of its three European signatories — the UK, France and Germany — to meet their end of the bargain.

Upon announcing his withdrawal from the JCPOA, US President Trump called it the “worst deal ever” and pledged to force Iran through sanctions into renegotiating a new agreement that addresses its ballistic missiles and regional influence.

The Trump administration has ever since targeted Iran’s industry and oil exports with various sanctions in a bid to cripple its economy.

Wary of possible penalties, Europe has failed to deliver on its pledge to save mutual trade by enacting a special payment channel that protects European firms from US sanctions months after unveiling it in January.

Fed up with the foot-dragging, Iran announced the first stage of its countermeasures in May by increasing its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300-kilogram cap set by the agreement.

The Islamic Republic took the second step two months later, when it started to enrich uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA limit of 3.76 percent.

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The decision to scale down commitments to the JCPOA came a  year after the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and the European sides’ lack of practical measures to safeguard Iran’s economic interests in the face of US sanctions.

Tehran says its countermeasures fit within its rights under paragraphs 26 and 36 of the nuclear deal, and that it will reverse the measures once its demands are met.

In the first step last May, Iran reduced some of its commitments under the JCPOA, and gave a two-month window of opportunity to the European signatories to the JCPOA to fulfil their commitments.

The second step was taken in July and Iran further reduced its commitments to the nuclear deal, and gave another two-month window of opportunity to the Europeans to honor what they had promised as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

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On May 8, the anniversary of the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal (JCPOA), Iran announced that it was partially discontinuing its obligations under the JCPOA and urged nuclear deal remaining signatories – China, the European Union, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom – to shield Tehran from Washington’s sanctions.

Tehran says its countermeasures fit within its rights under paragraphs 26 and 36 of the nuclear deal, and that it will reverse the measures once its demands are met.

As a first step, Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to a level above 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.

Today, Kamalvandi told reporters that Iran’s actions will include suspension of commitments, which means that Iran will not put aside its commitments but it will only suspend them.

The spokesman went on to explain that Iran will resume the suspended commitments if the other parties come back to their commitments.

“If their actions are serious, there may be no need to take a third step, but if the other parties do not take serious steps, there definitely will be more steps,” Kamalvandi asserted.

He warned that if Iran has to take more steps after the third step to reduce its JCPOA commitments, there may be no JCPOA anymore.

In response to a question about the volume of enriched uranium in accordance with Iran’s second step, he said that the enriched uranium stockpiles are increasing, adding that Iran’s atomic energy organization is using full capacity of its heavy water. He noted that the reductions in Iran’s commitments means that the heavy water stockpiles have surpassed 130 tons while the stockpiled enriched uranium also exceeded 300kg.

Elsewhere, he said that it is up to the Foreign Ministry to assess the conditions and to determine which steps the other parties have taken to abide by their commitments.

Kamalvandi added while the Europeans say they want to take actions to abide by their commitments, they have done nothing in practice so far.

The spokesman also said that as time passes, Iran increases the rate of uranium enrichment.

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“What the Islamic Republic is doing now is in accordance with JCPOA and based on paragraphs 26 and 36 of the deal,” he added.

“After our 60-day ultimatum to Europeans our uranium stockpile has surpassed 300 kilograms and we are not obliged to provide the surplus heavy water anymore,” Kamalvandi said.

“Presently, we are above 3.67 percent enrichment and are producing enriched materials required for nuclear fuels, which is 4.5 percent,” he added.

The spokesperson underscored that according to the reports if the IAEA, Iran has fulfilled all its commitments to JCPOA.

In early May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared Iranian reciprocal action to US over the breach of JCPOA by scale-down of Iran’s commitments envisaged by Note 26 of the nuclear deal.

The president noted that “it does not mean that Iran leaves the nuclear agreement.”

Noting that the pact is “beneficial to the region and the world and detrimental to the enemies of Iran,” Rouhani said Iran has always been and will remain committed to its responsibilities to the nuclear deal.

The president said the country will continue the efforts to stay in the pact despite the enemies’ wishes.

On July 8, a day after announcing the decision to increase uranium enrichment, Iran’s atomic organization spokesman said that the country started enriching uranium at 4.5% level from previous from 3.67%.

Iran insists that the reductions in commitments do not violate the nuclear deal, but they are based on paragraphs 26 and 36 of the agreement.

“Having failed to implement their obligations under JCPOA—incl after US withdrawal—EU/E3 should at minimum politically support Iran’s remedial measures under Para 36, incl at IAEA. E3 have no pretexts to avoid a firm political stance to preserve JCPOA & counter US unilateralism,” Foreign Minister Zarif tweeted after Iran’s announcement.

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Kamalvandi said that “right now, the level of uranium enrichment has increased from 3.67% to 4.5%.”

Earlier today, the spokesman said that 20% uranium enrichment is one of the options that Iran may resort to in the third phase of countermeasures to reduce JCPOA commitments in the face of other parties’ lack of action to live up to their commitments under the deal.

During a press conference in Tehran yesterday, at the end of Iran’s 60-day deadline to the European countries, the spokesman announced the second phase of Iran’s retaliatory measures under the deal and said that uranium enrichment level would surpass the 3.67% limit.

Iran insists that the reductions in commitments do not violate the nuclear deal, but they are based on paragraphs 26 and 36 of the agreement.

“Having failed to implement their obligations under JCPOA—incl after US withdrawal—EU/E3 should at minimum politically support Iran’s remedial measures under Para 36, incl at IAEA. E3 have no pretexts to avoid a firm political stance to preserve JCPOA & counter US unilateralism,” Foreign Minister Zarif tweeted on Sunday after Iran’s announcement.

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