IAEA: Iran Starts Third Cascade of Centrifuges for Enrichment

 

Six total cascades are planned, announced months ago

Jason Ditz 

Posted onMarch 8, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsIAEA, Iran

The latest IAEA report on Iran has confirmed that they have activated the third cascade of advanced centrifuges for enrichment. These centrifuges are being installed at Natanz as part of an announcement the IAEA was informed of months ago, and has been the subject of many updates since then.

The upgrades and installations are a continuation of Iran trying to get negotiations on the P5+1 nuclear deal and sanctions relief. Each IAEA update leads to new accusations of violations, even if in practice, it is all one big violation that was announced long ago, and is readily reversible once a deal is made.

Six total cascades are planned, of which this is the third. The fourth is installed but not operating yet, the fifth is in the process of being installed, and the sixth appears to be further down the road.

Iran is mostly replacing its IR-1 centrifuges with more efficient IR-2m centrifuges. Iran is free under the nuclear deal to improve their centrifuges, but replacing the old ones was meant to be a subject of negotiations, which aren’t happening because Iran can get the other nations to negotiations on sanctions relief and other unresolved issues.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/03/08/iaea-iran-starts-third-cascade-of-centrifuges-for-enrichment/