Western powers condemn Iran’s accelerated uranium enrichment

PARIS: Western powers on Thursday condemned Iran accelerating its production of highly enriched uranium, after a watchdog said it had upped manufacture following months of slowdown.

In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany and the US said “We condemn this measure that further aggravates the continued escalation of the Iranian nuclear programme,” adding that “Iran´s production of highly enriched uranium has no credible civilian justification”.

The statement came two days after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report saying Iran “increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023.”

Iran said the report contained “nothing new”.Earlier, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami rejected a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claiming Tehran has increased the rate at which it is enriching uranium to up to 60 per cent purity in recent weeks.