TEHRAN — Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations confirmed on Wednesday that Iran has started feeding UF6 gas into the advanced IR-2m uranium-enriching centrifuges.

“The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a half-page report yesterday, announcing that on 14 November 2020, IAEA inspectors have verified that Iran began feeding UF6 into the cascade of 174 IR-2m centrifuges at the Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) in Natanz,” Kazem Gharibabadi wrote in a tweet on Wednesday.

Earlier, Reuters quoted the IAEA as saying that Iran has begun feeding UF6 into the advanced IR-2m centrifuges installed at Natanz.

“On 14 November 2020, the Agency verified that Iran began feeding UF6 into the recently installed cascade of 174 IR-2m centrifuges at the Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) in Natanz,” the IAEA report to member states, dated Tuesday, said, according to Reuters.

Iran signed a nuclear deal, officially known as the JCPOA, with the United States, Britain, Germany, France, the European Union, Russia, and China in July 2015 according to which Iran agreed to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions. The agreement was endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal on May 8, 2018, and returned sanctions and imposed new harsh ones.

In remarks on Monday, Gharibabadi said the IAEA should guarantee effective implementation of nuclear-related technical cooperation programs.

He made the remarks during a meeting of the Agency's Cooperation and Technical Assistance Committee, which was held via video conference.

He said the efforts by the IAEA chief to ensure the effective implementation of technical cooperation programs are very important and their realization requires high solidarity and cooperation at all levels in the world.

MH/PA