19 January 2021
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Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal and must reverse its latest move towards increased enrichment, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK - the E3 countries - said on 16 January. In response, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) said it wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to "avoid mentioning unnecessary details".
Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiyee (Image: Fars news agency)
At the turn of the year, Tehran informed IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi that it planned to start 20% uranium enrichment, which is a purity level five times' that which it agreed under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). The announcement followed the passing of a new law in December by the Majles, the Iranian parliament, which requires the AEOI to produce at least 120 kg of 20% enriched uranium annually at the Fordow nuclear site. The law also stipulates that Iran will no longer be bound by the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol it had signed with the IAEA, meaning that access to its nuclear sites by international inspectors would cease.