Rouhani: Iran to resume uranium enrichment at Fordow plant

Iran will resume uranium enrichment at its Fordow plant starting Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, adding that Tehran will start injecting uranium gas into 1,044 centrifuges in the latest step away from the 2015 nuclear deal.

President Hassan Rouhani made the statement in an address carried live by Iranian state TV on Tuesday.

Under Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, these machines are supposed to spin without gas injection.

Rouhani added that all of the steps Iran has taken to reduce its commitments to the nuclear deal are reversible and Iran will uphold all of its commitments under the deal when the remaining signatories do the same.

There was no immediate comment from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

Iran on Monday doubled the number of advanced IR-6 centrifuges now in operation in another violation of the nuclear deal.

Following Rouhani’s statements, Russia expressed its concern over Iran’s decision to continue enriching uranium.

“We are monitoring the development of the situation with concern,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“We support the preservation of this deal.”