Iran is ramping up uranium enrichment and seizing a tanker as tensions with the US build

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Iran also seized a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker in the Persian Gulf on Monday, said semi-official news agencies and Dryad Global, a maritime safety risk management company.

Iran is currently enriching its uranium supply to about 4.5%, which is above the 3.67% limit imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal, but well behind the 90% considered weapon worthy. Iran has consistently denied its intention to collect nuclear weapons.

The country had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its intention to continue enriching uranium by 20%, IAEA spokesman Fredrik Dahl told CNN on Friday.

The performance poses a challenge to US President-elect Joe Biden, who has vowed to revive the pact when he takes office. President Donald Trump walked away from the joint agreement in 2018, and instead started sanctions against the Iranian regime again.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Monday that the country started the enrichment process at the Fordow site “a few hours ago”, noting that the first UF6-enriched uranium will be produced in a matter of hours, IRNA said.

IRNA added, citing Rabiei, that all necessary steps, such as informing the IAEA, have been taken.

Last month, the Iranian parliament passed a bill that would boost uranium enrichment to pre-2015 levels and block nuclear inspections if sanctions are not lifted, following the murder of a leading nuclear scientist.

“The law requires the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to produce and store at least 120 kg of 20% enriched uranium in the country every year,” the Mehr news agency reported.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in January 2020 that Iran was enriching more uranium than before the deal was signed, and in March, the UN found that the country had nearly tripled its stockpile in a matter of months.

Rouhani, whose government signed the 2015 groundbreaking nuclear deal with world powers, opposed last month’s bill, arguing that it would undermine diplomacy.

The Iranian government has repeatedly called on the US to reinstate the agreement that Trump withdrew from in 2018.

Tanker seized

Meanwhile, news agencies and the firm Dryad Global reported on Monday that Iran had seized a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker.

“Reports indicate that the South Korean-flagged chemical tanker HANKUK CHEMI (IMO: 9232369) was likely detained by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz while entering Fujairah,” said Dryad Global.

It added that there were 23 crew on board.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which is part of the British Royal Navy, said there was an ‘interaction’ in the Strait of Hormuz between a merchant ship and the Iranian authorities, forcing the ship to ‘make a change of course’. to Iranian territory. waters. “

Iran said the ship has been impounded for “causing environmental and chemical pollution in the Persian Gulf,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency said. The ship has been seized by the IRGC navy, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency in Iran.

CNN has contacted the South Korean government for comment.

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