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Iran gives IAEA notice on escalating uranium metal work

06 July 2021 23:04 (UTC +04:00)

Iran has given notice of concrete steps to produce uranium metal enriched to up to 20% purity for reactor fuel, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Tuesday, describing a move that is likely to anger Western powers in talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Iran has been in indirect talks with the United States since April to revive the 2015 deal, which former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned. The deal imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions, and after Trump withdrew, Iran began violating many of its restrictions.

Tehran has already produced a small amount of uranium metal this year that was not enriched. That is a breach of the deal, which bans all work on uranium metal since it can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb.