Moscow. January 4. INTERFAX-A senior Russian diplomat called the decision of the Iranian authorities to resume uranium enrichment to 20% a predictable and reversible step.
"Iran has announced the resumption of uranium enrichment to 20%. This is not a sensation. Such a move was predictable in light of the law recently passed by the Iranian Parliament. The main thing is that it remains reversible within the framework of possible normalization of the situation around the # JCPOA, " Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to international Organizations in Vienna, tweeted on Monday.
Iran on Monday resumed uranium enrichment to 20%, government spokesman Ali Rabiah told Iranian state media.
"A few minutes ago, the process of producing uranium enriched to 20% began at the Fordow enrichment complex," he said.
Earlier, Tehran informed the IAEA about its intention to increase the level of uranium enrichment to 20%. The head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, said that in order to start the process of enriching uranium to 20%, the natural uranium in the centrifuges located at the Fordow facility should be replaced with material already enriched to 4%.
According to him, "this should be done under the supervision of the IAEA."
"We are ready for this and will start producing (uranium enriched by 20%) as soon as possible," Salehi said.