Iran announces the reform of nuclear facilities in Natanz

The debate on the nuclear pact and sanctions against Iran is still on the table. While the United States insists on extending the sanctions, the UN Security Council remains hesitant. Meanwhile, the Iranian authorities have announced their plans to build a new nuclear facility with advanced centrifuges in the Natanz area.

These plans were already foreseen before the fire in Natanz in early summer. Two months later activities have resumed and the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, has indicated that the operation will be carried out in two phases. The first, which is currently under way, will involve the delivery of equipment and the construction of warehouses for the production of the centrifuges. 

The sabotage suffered at the beginning of July at the Natanz site remains a mystery. No country has yet been found responsible, although those responsible have been identified. “As far as we know, they have identified the culprits and know their incentives and methods” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, AEOI spokesman. 

Authorities claimed at the time that only surface damage had occurred, as there was no nuclear material at the site of the explosion. However, shortly afterwards some of its officials warned of "cyber sabotage" that was causing "considerable damage", as Kamalvandi confirmed at the end of August. 

The site of the explosion is in the centre of the country, some 200 km from Teheran, and is one of the Iranian government's most important uranium enrichment plants. The United States and Israel have stated on several occasions that these facilities pose a threat to compliance with the nuclear pact.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has ten times as much enriched uranium as authorised in the 2015 nuclear deal. These data have been confirmed by the agency's inspectors who were able to gain access to one of the facilities it had placed in question in recent months. 

The latest report drawn up by the agency states that at the end of August Iran's enriched uranium stockpile had reached 2,105kg (4,640lb), even though the pact only authorised it to have 202.8 kilos of this material, which could be used in atomic weapons. 

The Islamic Republic is thus exacerbating doubts about compliance with the pact. For their part, the Iranian authorities do not deny their increased uranium enrichment activities, but in turn assure that they intend to establish good relations with the countries that have signed the agreement (China, France, England, Russia and Germany) once the sanctions are lifted. 

In January 2020, following the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, the Islamic Republic threatened to cease to comply with some of the measures of the nuclear pact. But this threat had already been in place since 2018, when Donald Trump decided to pull out of the nuclear pact.

Iran's uranium enrichment data are well below the world average, particularly compared to the major powers on the UN Security Council. The World Nuclear Association has drawn up a table of the 17 countries that have the most enriched uranium on their territory. This list includes Australia, Kazakhstan, Namibia, South Africa, China and Niger at the top of the list and at no time, not even at the bottom, does Iran appear.

The sanctions against Iran will be lifted at the end of 2020. The UN Security Council is currently debating whether or not to extend the sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The United States is making every effort to ensure that this is the case, but it seems that the rest of the countries do not wish to listen, particularly after its withdrawal from the pact in 2018. 

The threat Iran may pose if it gains access to nuclear weapons is very significant to the United States, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which maintain territorial control of the Middle East without heeding the requests or needs of the Islamic Republic. Since Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlevi left power in 1979, Iran has become the biggest political antagonist in the area. 

Doubts about the extension of the sanctions will soon be resolved, as will the reaction of the United States and its Middle East allies to this nuclear dispute.