Iran ramps up uranium enrichment, seizes tanker
Amid a financial dispute with South Korea, Iran has seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf, while on the same day announcing the resumption of enriching uranium to 20%.
Amid rising tension in the Persian Gulf in US President Donald Trump’s final weeks in office, Iran announced on Monday that it has ramped up enrichment of uranium, while the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized a South Korean-flagged tanker.
The two moves come just after the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 3, 2020, killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in a US strike in Baghdad.
Government spokesman Ali Rabiee told state-run Mehr News that the country has resumed enriching uranium up to 20%. Iran was previously enriching below 5%. The enrichment will take place at Fordow, which is an underground uranium enrichment facility. Under the 2015 nuclear deal — officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — Fordow was to be converted from an enrichment center to a nuclear, physics and technology center. No enrichment would be allowed at Fordow until 2031 under the JCPOA.
According to Rabiee, the enrichment decision was taken in line with parliament’s passing of the Strategic Actions to Remove Sanctions bill. The double emergency bill was passed in December and designed to “realize the rights lost of the Iranian people” after other countries failed to implement their parts of the nuclear deal.
