Iran’s domestic nuclear agency (AEOI) plans to release details of the third phase of Iran’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with global powers.
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani, this week said the agency would have everything it needs to expand Iran’s nuclear programme “without limits”.
AEOI spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, will offer details on how it plans to ramp up operations in a press conference on Saturday.
The 2015 nuclear deal placed strict limits on Iran’s uranium production in return for easing economic sanctions, but the United States pulled out of the agreement under President Donald Trump.
European allies, who opposed the U.S. withdrawal, have tried to help Iran circumvent U.S. sanctions and keep the deal alive, but Iran says these efforts have had limited impact.
Expectations are that the AEOI could announce Iran will use more powerful centrifuges to quicken the process of enriching uranium to a purity level of 20 per cent.
Uranium needs to be enriched to 90 per cent for a nuclear weapon to be built, but getting from 20 to 90 per cent is considered to be a relatively quick process.
The 2015 nuclear deal restricted Iran’s uranium enrichment to no more than 3.67 per cent purity and its reserves of below that level of purity to no more than 300 kilogrammes.
Iran broke through both of those limits in its first two withdrawal phases earlier this year.
Acting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chief, Cornel Feruta, plans to meet high-level officials in Iran to discuss its plans on Sunday.
The U.S. re-imposed sanctions in an effort to secure a broader agreement that goes beyond its nuclear programme.
Iran has said multiple times that even if the Islamic Republic does pull out of the nuclear agreement, the country has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.
