The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nation's nuclear watchdog, announced Wednesday that Iran had started producing uranium metal, in clear violation of 2015 nuclear deal.
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According to French news agency AFP, the Vienna-based organization said in a statement that on Feb. 8 it "verified 3.6 grams of uranium metal at Iran's Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant in Isfahan," in what is a fresh breach of the limits of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement.
Evidence of this latest breach comes as Tehran is attempting to escalate the pressure on new US President Joe Biden's administration.
It seeks either a return to the 2015 nuclear deal and the lifting of punishing sanctions that Biden's predecessor, President Donald Trump imposed as punishment for previous breaches in conjunction with the Islamic republic's ballistic missile program.
The material produced was a small amount of natural uranium metal, the IAEA reported, meaning it wasn't enriched. To use uranium metal, Iran would need around half a kilogram, or slightly more than one pound, of highly enriched uranium metal, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While Iran has repeatedly encroached on the rules of 2015's agreement, it could plausibly deny that its steps to increase uranium enrichment could be done for civilian purposes, such as fueling power plants or for medical processes. However, there are few non-military uses for the production of uranium metal.
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The Iranian regime makes another announcement either about its nuclear capabilities or the legitimacy of its program almost daily.
It has claimed that it will not stop until the United States returns to the deal that Trump walked out of in 2018. The Biden administration said that it would not lift sanctions until Iran ceased uranium enrichment.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
