Iran Says It Will Open Secret New Enrichment Site After U.N. Atomic Agency Censure
Iran said Thursday it would soon open a third uranium enrichment site, a major escalation after the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency decided for the first time in two decades that Tehran had failed to comply with its nonproliferation obligations.
Iran’s announcement comes ahead of a sixth round of nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran expected on Sunday, in which President Trump is trying to persuade Tehran to stop producing fissile material as part of a new nuclear deal.
The head of Iran’s atomic agency, Mohammad Eslami, said Tehran would accelerate its production of near-weapons-grade uranium and open a previously unrevealed enrichment site in what he said is a secure location, according to Iranian state media.
Eslami said Iran was starting the process of readying and installing centrifuges in the new site and would start producing fissile material there as soon as it was ready. That would suggest Iran has been working on the site in secret for some time.
He said Tehran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency about its plans immediately after Thursday morning’s vote. The IAEA didn’t immediately comment.
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Does Iran have a death wish? It's already been observed that they don't represent a significant military threat to Israel even with the cooperation and involvement of the Houthi in Yemen and Hezbo in Lebanon. Everything that's been leaked about the US/Iran negotiations seem to indicate that the discussions are pointless, toothless exercises where the Iranians are just buying time. Iran has been in violation of IAEA regs for 10 years, they have never fully cooperated with the UN and now they have kilos of 60% enriched uranium and a breakout time of just a couple weeks/months.