The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced in a report that Iran has installed half of the advanced uranium enrichment devices at the underground Fordow site, which had been previously reported, but they have not yet been activated.
In this report, which Reuters news agency claims to have seen a copy of, the IAEA stated that Iran has installed four of the eight new IR-6 centrifuge cascades at Fordow, but it is unclear when uranium will be injected into them.
Two weeks ago, Iran informed the IAEA that it intended to rapidly increase its enrichment capacity at the underground Fordow site by adding eight new IR-6 centrifuge cascades.
The IAEA confirmed within two days that by June 11, Iran had completed two new IR-6 centrifuge cascades in Unit 1.
In the report, the IAEA confirmed that Iran had informed them on June 9 and 10 that it would install eight cascades containing 174 IR-6 centrifuges in Unit 1 of the Fordow enrichment facility over the next three to four weeks.
The IR-6 is one of the most advanced models of centrifuges in Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The IAEA now says Tehran has not yet announced when it will begin injecting uranium hexafluoride gas into any of the cascades in Unit 1, nor has it specified its desired enrichment level.
Diplomats say the installation of the new IR-6 centrifuges is in response to a resolution issued by the IAEA Board of Governors on June 5 against Iran. This resolution called for increased cooperation from Tehran with the IAEA and the lifting of recent restrictions on inspectors.
In its resolution, the IAEA Board of Governors called on the Iranian regime to “immediately” answer inspectors’ questions about the origin of uranium particles discovered at undeclared sites.
Iran has previously responded to IAEA Board resolutions, and following the adoption of a previous resolution in 2022, it increased uranium enrichment levels to 60%, which is close to the level required for producing nuclear weapons.
The resolution against Iran by the IAEA Board of Governors on June 5 was adopted with 20 votes in favor. China and Russia opposed the resolution, and 12 countries abstained.
The resolution deemed the presence of experienced IAEA inspectors in inspections of Iran’s nuclear activities as “vital” and called on Tehran to lift the ban on their activities.
Officials from the Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry called the adoption of this resolution “unconstructive,” and a spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran stated that Iran would not yield to “pressure.”
