Iranian President Says Higher Enrichment Decision is Response to Nuclear Facility Attack
Voice of America
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that his country’s decision to enrich uranium up to 60% purity is in response to the sabotage attack that damaged the nation’s Natanz nuclear site.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Rouhani called the move “an answer to your evilness.” Iran had previously enriched uranium to 20%. In addition to higher enrichment levels, Rouhani also said first-generation IR-1 centrifuges that were damaged in the attack would be replaced by more advanced IR-6 centrifuges. Under the terms of a 2015 agreement between Iran and a group of six world powers, Iran was limited to enriching uranium up to 3.67% to allay concerns about it developing nuclear weapons. Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to about 90%.People walk past the entrance of the International Medical Corps American field hospital ahead of its evacuation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 2, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Displaced Palestinians sit alongside their belongings in a van driving in al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 2, 2024. People talk in front of a sign referring to hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 2, 2024. Palestinians use a path lined with destroyed buildings al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 2, 2024.
This handout photo released on June 2, 2024 shows South Korean military officers check unidentified objects believed to be North Korean trash from balloons that crossed the inter-Korea border, on a street in Seoul. In this photo provided by Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, hang on electric wires as South Korean army soldiers stand guard in Muju, South Korea, May 29, 2024.
A man takes a photograph of the election results at the National Results Operation Centre of the IEC in Midrand, South Africa, June 2, 2024. African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, briefs the media on results of the elections at the Results Operation Centre in Midland, Johannesburg, June 2, 2024.