Tehran asks the Europeans to mediate to save the nuclear deal

Report: Iran is enriching uranium with more advanced centrifuges in Natanz

Zarif called for a simultaneous mechanism with the United States.

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A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that Iran had begun enriching uranium in a second set of advanced IR-2M centrifuges at an underground facility in Natanz, in violation of its agreement with world powers, at a time when Tehran called on the European Union To mediate between it and the United States to save the nuclear deal.

The IAEA report said Iran is already enriching uranium in a batch of 174 IR-2M centrifuges at the facility.

At the same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on the European Union to mediate between his country and the United States to salvage the nuclear agreement concluded between the major powers and Tehran, from which Washington withdrew during the era of former President Donald Trump, and Zarif said in statements to CNN. The American news that there can be a mechanism for either the simultaneous return of the two countries to the nuclear agreement, or "coordinating what can be done."

Zarif suggested that European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell define "the measures that the United States should take and those that Iran should take."

The new US President, Joe Biden, pledged to return to the agreement, on the condition that Tehran return to full compliance with the restrictions imposed on its nuclear program, from which it began to gradually free itself in response to the US position.

The Iranian diplomacy calls on the new US administration to take the first step in this regard, and to lift the sanctions first.

In addition, the Israeli Energy Minister, Yuval Steinitz, confirmed that Iran has about six months to produce enough fissile materials needed to build a single nuclear weapon.

Steinitz told the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (Makan) radio: "With regard to enrichment, Iran can reach the sufficient quantity within half a year if they do all that is necessary .. As for nuclear weapons, the period is about a year or two."

The latest quarterly estimates of the International Atomic Energy Agency issued last November show that Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium rose to 2.4 tons, 10 times more than permitted under the agreement, but far less than the eight tons it had before.

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