The European Union urges Iran to refrain from producing enriched uranium

An Iranian government spokesman said on 4 January that the Shahid Almohammadi complex at the Fordow underground nuclear facility had begun the process of producing uranium at a rate of up to 20%.

This exceeded the 3.67% commitment of the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA). However, following the United States' withdrawal from the pact in 2018, Iran re-enriched uranium in 2019 to 4.5 percent-an amount it now intends to exceed, though 20 per cent remains far below the 90 per cent required to make a nuclear bomb.

In a statement issued on Monday by the High Representative for the Foreign Policy of the EU-27, Josep Borrell, stated that the start of uranium enrichment at the Fordow plant, which was confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 4 January, is "a very serious event and a cause for deep concern", according to the Efe agency.

In Borrell's opinion, it continues to be essential to maintain full and timely cooperation with the IAEA and he stressed that the JCPOA is "a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture and an achievement of multilateral diplomacy, unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council through Resolution 2231".

On 21 December, in a joint statement, China, Russia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Iran and the EU itself pledged to "address challenges to the implementation" of the agreement, "including nuclear non-proliferation commitments and the lifting of sanctions", and to work together to bring Biden back to the JCPOA.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran (AEOI), stated that the country can enrich uranium to a purity of up to 90%, which is sufficient to make nuclear weapons.

Behrouz Kamalvandi revealed that Iran currently has four tons of uranium enriched to four percent and that the AEOI is prepared to produce up to ten million tons of uranium per year. The revelation furthermore coincides with the first drill with home-made drones conducted in the northern province of Semnán.

Several days ago Tehran announced that it would expel the United Nations nuclear monitoring inspectors unless the United States' sanctions are lifted before the deadline of 21 February.

Parliament passed a law making it compulsory to halt the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and increase uranium enrichment beyond the limit established in Tehran's nuclear agreement of 2015 if the sanctions are not lifted.

This move is a violation of the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 and, according to the Iranian authorities, is a response to Donald Trump's decision to abandon the agreement unilaterally in 2018.

This is intended to put pressure on the US president-elect, Joe Biden, to negotiate quickly on the nuclear agreement.  Biden intends to return to the JCPOA when he takes up his mandate on 20 January, but Tehran's decision to re-enrich uranium may hinder his plans.