Iran increases uranium enrichment at Fordow nuclear facility

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed today, Wednesday, that Iran has begun enriching uranium to a purity of 20%, using centrifuges located at the "Fordo" nuclear facility.

The agency said the new centrifuges at the facility, buried in a mountain, can enrich uranium to 20%.

The agency added in a statement that it had verified, on Tuesday, that Iran had injected a quantity of uranium hexafluoride with a purity of 5% into 166 "IR-6" centrifuges at the Fordow facility with the aim of enriching it to a purity of 20%.

And the agency announced, in a report to members of the United Nations, seen by Reuters, on Wednesday, that it plans to raise the degree of oversight at the "Fordo" facility (FFEP for short).

In its report, it said, "The agency has decided and Iran has agreed to raise the degree of verification of the activities at the FFEP facility and will continue its consultations with Iran to come up with practical measures to implement these activities."

The latest step is expected to contribute to raising the level of tension in the talks that world powers are conducting with Tehran in order to push it to comply with the nuclear agreement signed in 2015, also known as the "Joint Plan of Action."

On Monday, the seventh round of nuclear negotiations with Iran began, after they had been suspended since last June.

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