Iran Agrees to Enhanced UN Oversight at Fordow Nuclear Plant Amid Enrichment Increase

Iran has reportedly agreed to increased monitoring by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at its Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), following a significant acceleration in uranium enrichment there.

"Iran agreed to the Agency"s request to increase the frequency and intensity of the implementation of safeguards measures at FFEP and is facilitating the implementation of this strengthened safeguards approach," said the IAEA in Thursday"s confidential report to member states, The Caspian Post reports, citing Reuters.

Last week the watchdog reported that Iran had multiplied the pace of its enrichment at Fordow to up to 60 per cent purity, close to the 90 per cent of weapons grade, which Western powers called an extremely serious escalation in their standoff with Tehran over its nuclear programme.

At that time the IAEA said that it would discuss the need for tougher so-called safeguards measures, such as inspections, at the FFEP, one of two sites where Iran is enriching to that highest level.

By switching to up to 20 per cent from up to 5 per cent the enrichment level of the uranium hexafluoride feedstock for centrifuges at Fordow already enriching to up to 60 per cent, Iran has multiplied the pace at which it produces uranium in that highest enrichment bracket.

The IAEA has said that it will now be able to produce more than 34kg a month of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent at Fordow, around six times the 5-7kg that it was producing in total at both Fordow and an above-ground pilot plant at Natanz in recent months.

Around 42kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent is theoretically enough, if enriched further, for a nuclear bomb, according to the IAEA yardstick. Iran already has more than four times that amount, and enough for more weapons at lower enrichment levels.

Western powers say that there is no civil justification for Iran enriching to that level since no other country has done so without producing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies having such intentions, though, saying that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.