Iran will start 60 pct uranium production, Iranian envoy to IAEA confirms

Iran confirmed Wednesday it would start producing by next week uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, days after a blast it blamed on Israel hit a key nuclear facility in Natanz.

“Modification of the process just started and we expect to accumulate the product next week” from centrifuges at Natanz, tweeted Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazem Gharibabadi.

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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday Tehran’s decision to boost uranium enrichment to 60 percent was a response to Israel’s “nuclear terrorism,” three days after an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility.

“Enabling IR-6 (centrifuges) at Natanz today, or bringing enrichment to 60 percent: this is the response to your malice,” Rouhani said in televised remarks. “What you did was nuclear terrorism. What we do is legal.”

“You wanted to make our hands empty during the talks but our hands are full,” he added.

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