Nuclear Charges Aim to Pressure Iran Ahead of IAEA Board Meeting

Media claims about Iran’s uranium enrichment to 84% purity level are made with the aim of ramping up pressure on the Islamic Republic ahead of the quarterly meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, a lawmaker said. 
“We see such measures as part of the other sides’ fruitless plots,” Abolfazl Amoui, spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told ICANA. 
He added that Iran has declared its technical plans and is currently enriching up to 60% for the production of Molybdenum, a main component of radiopharmaceuticals. 
“Iran has no plans for enrichment higher than 60% at the moment and such a decision depends on political and technical circumstances,” he said, adding that the Islamic Republic would announce clearly and publicly in case it intends to make changes in its enrichment levels. 
Amoui also explained that it is technically possible to find accumulations of uranium at different levels of purity than the target at certain parts of cascades and centrifuges. 
“This is completely natural in the enrichment process.” 
The parliamentarian also censured the fact that such an issue was publicized before the official report of the IAEA. 
The next quarterly Board of Governors meeting begins on March 6 and quarterly reports are usually issued in the week before a meeting.

Psychological Operations 

A report was published by Bloomberg on Sunday, citing two diplomats as saying that the International Atomic Energy Agency has found uranium enriched to 84% in Iran, very close to weapons grade which is around 90%. 
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran dismissed the report, pointing out that variant levels of purity may naturally be produced as a by-product, while the criterion for assessment is the end product. 
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Twitter that it was aware of recent media reports and that it was discussing the results of recent verifications with Iran and would inform the IAEA Board of Governors as appropriate. 
Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60% purity since April 2021, much 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. 
Shahriar Heydari, another member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said Iran’s enrichment programs have always been faced with psychological operations of western media who seek to spread propaganda against the Islamic Republic. 
“Western countries are after stopping Iran’s nuclear program and imposing further pressure on the Islamic Republic,” he said. 
He also stressed that Iran’s purpose of enrichment is conventional use of this capacity which is common in the world. 
The Iranian government is tasked with pursuing the nuclear program based on a parliamentary law and has not breached the regulations of the IAEA, according to Heydari.