No Enriched Uranium Production Above 60%

Observations by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency have shown that enriched uranium at the end of the production line in Iran have not exceeded 60%, according to the Iranian top nuclear official. 
“Our enrichment line is for the very production of uranium at 60%,” Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told reporters on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, ISNA reported. 
He added that a very small particle at a higher purity was seen in samples from a tap in the middle of the enrichment process, but what matters is the volume and enrichment level of material that are acquired at the end of the line. 
In discussions over the past two weeks, it was also concluded that there had been no unannounced changes to the Design Information Questionnaire as had been stated by the IAEA, according to the AEOI chief. 
Last month, the agency criticized Iran for failing to inform it of a “substantial” change to the interconnections between the two cascades, or clusters, of centrifuges enriching uranium to up to 60% at the Fordow enrichment plant. 
Reports later came out suggesting that the agency had found uranium enriched to 84% in Iran, very close to weapons grade which is around 90%.
An IAEA delegation headed by the head of the agency’s safeguards department Massimo Aparo traveled to Tehran to hold discussions with Iranian officials, who later invited the agency’s director general to visit and pursue the talks.  
In a confidential quarterly report to member states seen by the AP, the agency confirmed that its inspectors had found uranium particles at 83.7% purity in the Fordow nuclear site.
According to the report, inspectors discovered on Jan. 21 that two cascades of IR-6 centrifuges at Iran’s Fordow facility had been configured in a way “substantially different” to what had been previously declared. The IAEA took samples the following day, which showed particles up to 83.7% purity, the report said. 
The IAEA report, however, only speaks about “particles,” suggesting that Iran is not building a stockpile of uranium enriched above 60%. 
“Iran informed the Agency that ‘unintended fluctuations’ in enrichment levels may have occurred during transition period at the time of commissioning the process of [60%] product [November 2022] or while replacing the feed cylinder,” it said, adding that “discussions between the agency and Iran to clarify the matter are ongoing.”

Safeguards Allegations

Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60% purity since April 2021, above the 3.67% cap imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in return for sanctions relief.  
The measure was part of Iran’s countermeasures against the United States’ reimposition of sanctions, after its withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018.
Negotiations on the revival of the deal have been stalled for months over final differences, including Iran’s demand for the closure of IAEA investigations into nuclear material that it claims have been found at three old undeclared sites in Iran. 
Eslami said the safeguards allegations will be discussed during Grossi’s upcoming visit. 
He reiterated that these accusations that have been made against Iran for 20 years were closed in negotiations that led to the signing of the JCPOA and no new question of this type should be raised. 
The nuclear chief also dismissed claims that Iran has not provided answers to the IAEA about the alleged particles. 
“The answers were sent in 100 pages and we needed to review them with patience,” he said.