Iran launches new centrifuges in latest breach of nuclear deal
Nov 4, 2019, 5:28 AM
FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2015, file photo released by the Iranian President's Office, President Hassan Rouhani visits the Bushehr nuclear power plant just outside of Bushehr, Iran. Rouhani is reportedly set to announce ways the Islamic Republic will react to continued U.S. pressure after President Donald Trump pulled America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Iranian media say Rouhani is expected to deliver a nationwide address as soon as Wednesday, May 8, 2019, regarding the steps the country will take. (AP Photo/Iranian Presidency Office, Mohammad Berno, File)
(AP Photo/Iranian Presidency Office, Mohammad Berno, File)
(CNN) — Iran has launched a new generation of advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium, the nation’s nuclear chief announced Monday, the latest in a series of violations of the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.
“Today we are launching the 30-series chain of IR6 centrifuge machines,” Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi of the Atomic Energy Organization told state television IRIB.
“The number of centrifuges we have installed during these two months is about 15 new generation centrifuges, which is a huge achievement.”
Tehran has gradually scaled back its commitments to the nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Iran.
Iran announced in July that its stockpiles of enriched low-grade uranium had exceeded the 300-kilogram limit set in the deal. President Hassan Rouhani later confirmed in September that the nation was using advanced models of centrifuges to enrich uranium.
The nuclear deal was intended to limit Iran’s civilian nuclear program and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
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