{"id":238142,"date":"2021-04-17T04:29:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-17T09:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=238142"},"modified":"2023-01-28T20:31:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T19:31:38","slug":"iran-regimes-60-percent-enrichment-plan-reflects-much-larger-pattern-of-provocations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/nuclear\/iran-regimes-60-percent-enrichment-plan-reflects-much-larger-pattern-of-provocations\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran Regime\u2019s 60 Percent Enrichment Plan Reflects Much Larger Pattern of Provocations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iran<\/p>\n

The Iranian regime has started enriching uranium at 60 percent fissile purity, in line with the mullahs\u2019 nuclear extortion campaign.<\/p>\n

The mullahs\u2019 Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had previously announced that \u201canother 1,000 centrifuges with 50% more capacity will be added to the existing machines in Natanz, in addition to replacing the damaged machines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reference to damaged machines was an acknowledgment of the fact that security had been breached at the fortified Natanz nuclear site earlier this week. The sabotage at that site was a clear sign of the Iranian regime\u2019s vulnerability, which has no doubt made Tehran all the more desperate to display an image of strength.<\/p>\n

The international community, mainly the European Union, needs to be careful about how they respond to the regime\u2019s provocations, starting with the threat of escalatory<\/a> enrichment at Natanz and other sites. Such threats should certainly be taken seriously, but they should not be taken so seriously that any Western entity feels compelled to provide Tehran with new concessions aimed and encouraging the regime to back down.<\/p>\n

That is, of course, exactly the outcome that the regime\u2019s leaders have in mind. And if the nations of Europe give them what they want, the regime will only recognize more incentive to undertake similarly provocative gestures whenever it is under duress in the future.<\/p>\n

The fact is that Tehran is much more likely to respond to the language of strength than it is to engage in good faith negotiations with the international community. The 60 percent enrichment underscores the prior lack of that good faith<\/a>, partly because it reflects a pace of escalation that has come as a surprise to many supporters of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and partly because it seems to confirm the malign objectives that the Iranian regime had long denied were behind its nuclear work.<\/p>\n

This latest escalation is far from the first such confirmation. Earlier this year, the regime announced that it had begun work on the production of uranium metal. Many experts on nuclear technology responded by affirming that there is no other purpose for this substance than to function as a key component in the core of a nuclear weapon. This fact reinforced the concerns that had emerged when the regime began operating more highly advanced centrifuges than were permitted under the terms of the nuclear deal, thereby raising both the level and the speed of uranium enrichment.<\/p>\n

The Iranian regime has been producing 20 percent enriched uranium at least since January. In order to produce nuclear bombs, the regime would have to continue enriching the uranium beyond 90 percent fissile purity, but as nuclear experts have also noted, this is only a short technical step away from 20 percent enrichment. The regime\u2019s facilities have already begun moving to 60 percent, thus the requisite step is even shorter, and Tehran\u2019s \u201cbreakout\u201d time for a nuclear weapon will be even lower than the approximately two months that are cited in most recent estimates.<\/p>\n

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Iran: Fake News or Regime\u2019s New Tactic on its Nuclear Program<\/div><\/div>
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