Iran is producing highly enriched uranium faster than law allows, a report by the UN nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday.
The law started the process of enriching to 20 per cent fissile purity last month.
As part of a recent acceleration of breaches of its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, Iran has begun refining uranium to 20 per cent at Fordow, a site built secretly inside a mountain, although the deal says Iran cannot enrich at all inside the facilities.
Until last month, Iran had not enriched beyond 4.5 per cent purity, above the deal's limit of 3.67 per cent but still far below the 20 per cent it achieved before the deal or the 90 per cent weapons-grade.
Uranium is considered highly enriched if it reaches 20 per cent.
"They are producing 15 kilograms a month of uranium enriched to 20 per cent. That is their production rate," a senior diplomat said.
The US again on Tuesday urged Iran to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying Tehran is moving further away from compliance, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Mr Price said Washington would be in close consultation with the UN nuclear watchdog to discuss appropriate action in support of its dealings with Tehran.
Recent legislation that required Iran to start enriching to 20 per cent stipulated that at least 120kg of uranium refined to that level be produced each year, which amounts to 10kg a month.
A second diplomat said Iran was "slightly above" the target of 10kg a month.
The agency and Iran announced on Sunday that although Tehran would go ahead with reducing co-operation with the IAEA this week, including ending snap inspections, they struck a deal on continuing "necessary" agency monitoring and verification in Iran.
Details of the deal are confidential but the agency's director general, Rafael Grossi, described a black box-type system in which data is collected without the body being able to obtain access immediately.
"This is a system that allows us to continue to monitor and to register all the key activities that are taking place throughout this period so that at the end of it, we can recover all this information," Mr Grossi told an event hosted by the US Nuclear Threat Initiative think tank.
A senior diplomat later said this system did not apply to the core monitoring of Iran's most important declared plants, such its enrichment sites, which predate Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
But it would apply to measures added under the deal, such as devices that measure enriched uranium in real time.
"On the declared facilities, the reduction [in access] is practically negligible," the senior diplomat said.
Mr Grossi has said he hopes a deal can be struck at a higher level while his technical accord is in place, in an apparent reference to efforts to salvage the 2015 nuclear pact by ending Iranian breaches and bringing the US back into it.
"Some say at the end of it, if Iran wants and there is no agreement, they will destroy this information," he said.
"Yes, but if at the end of it there is no agreement, everything is destroyed. There is no confidence any more."
Mr Grossi said that without his weekend deal, "the situation would not, I repeat, would not be reversible or recoverable.
"We would be basically flying blind, without any idea of what would be taking place in terms of enrichment activities and other relevant activities."
A quarterly report on Iran's nuclear activities by the UN nuclear watchdog on Tuesday said that as of February 16, Iran had produced 17.6kg of uranium enriched up to 20 per cent, with the next level down being enriched between 2 and 5 per cent.
Iran's overall stockpile of enriched uranium grew by 524.9kg to 2,967.8kg during the quarter, far above the 2015 deal's 202.8kg stockpile limit, although still a fraction of the more than 8 tonnes Iran had before the deal.
RESULT
Brazil 2 Croatia 0
Brazil: Neymar (69'), Firmino (90' 3)
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
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Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')
Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Votes
Total votes: 1.8 million
Ashraf Ghani: 923,592 votes
Abdullah Abdullah: 720,841 votes
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
