Stating that Iran has extensive activities in exploration and extraction, Salehi said, “Until three or four years ago, we used to produce an average of 4 to 5 tons of yellowcake, but now, for about two years, we have increased the production of yellowcake to 30 tons.”

“This year, the production of yellowcake will be between 35 and 40 tons, which means that we have increased the production of yellowcake 8 times,” he added.

“We were able to achieve 20% uranium enrichment technically within 24 hours after International Atomic Energy Agency’s formalities,” Salehi noted.

“We can produce about 17 to 20 grams of enrichment per hour,” he added.

Stating that Iran can produce about 8 to 9 kg per month to reach 120 kg in line with the implementation of the Parliament’s motion on ‘strategic action to lift sanctions’, AEOI chief highlighted, “You see that Iran has produced 20% enriched uranium in 24 hours.”

“We are currently installing a thousand IR-2m centrifuges, but 2 cascades are installed and working. We proceed according to the law and install these centrifuges even earlier than the legal deadline,” he said.

AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi also said that Iran has produced its first UF6 (uranium hexafluoride or hex) product a few hours after restarting the enrichment of uranium up to a purity level of 20 percent at the Fordow nuclear facility.

Kamalvandi announced late Monday that the first UF6 product was prepared a few hours ago.

The process of injecting gas into the centrifuges and resuming uranium enrichment up to 20% started earlier in the day after informing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the spokesman said.

“Considering the previous experience of enrichment in Fordow facility, the new production line for enriching uranium to 20% was prepared very quickly,” Kamalvandi said.

He also noted that the country is prepared to enrich uranium at purity levels beyond 20 percent.

Meanwhile, on Monday Iran’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna says the UN nuclear watchdog has certified in a report that Iran has started to enrich uranium to a purity level of 20 percent.

In comments on Monday, Kazem Gharibabadi said the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed in a report that Iran has begun to enrich uranium up to a purity level of 20 percent.

The envoy said the report came after Iran provided the IAEA with an amendment to the Design Information Questionnaire (DIQ) for Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) where the IAEA inspectors visited on Monday morning to verify the information and to break seals on a cylinder containing uranium enriched to 4.1 percent.

The UN nuclear agency’s report declares that the IAEA inspectors have removed the seal on a 137.2 kg cylinder containing 4.1% uranium, the cylinder has been connected to the production line, and the enrichment of uranium up to purity level of 20% has begun, Gharibabadi added.

The envoy noted that the resumption of 20% uranium enrichment in Iran follows a letter that Tehran sent to the IAEA on December 31, 2020, saying the UN nuclear agency had been notified that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has plans to enrich uranium to 20% purity level in compliance with a bill recently ratified by the Iranian Parliament.

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In remarks released on Monday night, Iran’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the IAEA’s recent report acknowledges that it has access to the nuclear facilities and that Iran continues to voluntarily and temporarily implement the Additional Protocol.

According to the report, Iran has begun enriching UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) at Fordow and the enrichment level has reached 4.5%, he said.

The diplomat further noted that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has been reported at 372.3kg as of November 3.

Iran on Wednesday took the 4th step in reducing its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in reaction to the continued failure of the European parties to meet their obligations to the agreement.

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA.

Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the JCPOA after the US withdrawal, but the three EU parties to the deal (France, Britain, and Germany) have failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.

The EU’s inaction forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments to the nuclear deal, including a rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.

Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the JCPOA but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.

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