UN nuclear body asks Iran to explain uranium enrichment levels

The UN's nuclear watchdog is in discussions with the authorities in Iran following a report that inspectors had found that the Islamic republic has stepped up the level of uranium enrichment, approaching the limit required for an atomic weapon.

Part of the Arak heavy water reactor, 250 kilometers southwest of Tehran, Iran. AP

The financial information agency Bloomberg News has reported that inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Iran last week found uranium enriched to 84 percent purity. A level of  90 percent is required for use in a weapon.

"The IAEA is aware of recent media reports relating to uranium enrichment levels in Iran," the Vienna-based agency wrote on Twitter.

The UN nuclear oversight body added that it was "discussing with Iran the results of recent agency verification activities and will inform the IAEA Board of Governors as appropriate".

Negotiations to revive a deal between Tehran and half a dozen world powers remain stalled.

The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Behruz Kamalvandi, on Monday described the report as "slander" and a "distortion of the facts", according to state news agency IRNA.

"The presence of a particle or particles of uranium above 60 percent in the enrichment process does not mean enrichment above 60 percent," he added

No plans to build a bomb

Iran stepped up its nuclear activities in 2019, a year after the US under president Donald Trump pulled out of the international deal and reimposed sanctions.

The 2015 agreement promised Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for cutting back its nuclear programme.

Negotiations to revive the deal started in 2021 but have stalled since last year.

The Bloomberg report says "inspectors need to determine whether Iran intentionally produced the material, or whether the concentration was an unintended accumulation.

"It's the second time this month that monitors have detected suspicious enrichment-related activities," the report added.

In January, IAEA head Rafael Grossi said Iran had "amassed enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons".

In December, Iran said its uranium enrichment capacity had increased to unprecedented levels.

Tehran has repeatedly insisted that it is not planning to build a nuclear bomb.