Iran says activating ‘advanced’ centrifuges after IAEA censure

UN nuclear watchdog condemns Iran for failing to cooperate fully and seeks answers on uranium found at two locations.

Iran has said it will activate “new and advanced” centrifuges in response to a resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board censuring it for lack of cooperation.

The motion was put forward by France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States at the 35-nation board of the United Nations nuclear watchdog and follows a similar one in June, criticised then by Iran as “hasty and unwise”.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the passing of the resolution and said on Friday that Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami had issued orders to launch new and advanced centrifuges, powerful machines that spin rapidly to enrich uranium.

The joint statement added that “technical and safeguards cooperation with the IAEA will continue, as in the past” and within the framework of agreements made by Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi this week condemned efforts by European countries to pass their fourth resolution since 2020, saying it would “complicate” nuclear talks.

The resolution underscored IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s “deep concern” over the presence of “undeclared nuclear material” at several “undeclared locations” in the country.

It also pointed to Grossi’s findings “that nuclear material used in Iran was not declared as required” under the country’s own safeguard agreement outlined in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

But Grossi indicated during his trip to Tehran last week that he was making some headway with the inspections.

Iran had agreed to an IAEA demand to cap its stock of high-enriched uranium up to only 60 percent purity, well below the weapons-grade enriched level of 90 percent needed for a bomb.

Nineteen members of the IAEA board voted for the resolution. Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed it, 12 abstained and one did not vote, said diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity of the closed-doors vote.

China and Russia voted against all other previous censure measures against Iran at the IAEA, including in 2020, 2022 and June 2024.

The censure measure comes as US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House.

Trump’s first term in office was marked by a particularly tense period with Iran, when he pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, which eventually resulted in Washington’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers.

In response, Iran stepped up its nuclear enrichment.

Confidential reports by the IAEA to member states, leaked to the media this week, indicated that Iran has defied international demands to rein in its nuclear programme.

The UN watchdog has previously named two locations near Tehran – Varamin and Turquzabad – where there have been traces of processed uranium, according to IAEA inspectors.

The resolution called on Iran to provide “technically credible explanations” for the presence of uranium particles found at two undeclared locations. The IAEA is set to continue its discussions on Friday.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies