Iran to increase uranium enrichment to 60 pct if needed: top leader

Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-23 01:49:46|Editor: huaxia

TEHRAN, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran will increase its uranium enrichment with the change of the country's needs, official IRNA news agency reported.

"Iran will not stay limited to a (uranium) enrichment of 20 percent. There is the possibility of increasing enrichment up to 60 percent in accordance with the country's needs," Khamenei said.

However, "Iran is not pursuing the production of nuclear weapons," the top leader noted.

In January, Iran launched 20-percent uranium enrichment process as part of Iran's Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions which was approved by the parliament in December 2020.

The parliament's law also mandated the Iranian government to stop implementing the International Atomic Energy Agency's additional protocol from Feb. 23. Enditem

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