Iran Gov't Spoks: We Have Resumed 20% Uranium Enrichment

Following reports yesterday that the Iranian gov't was looking to resume 20% uranium enrichment 'as soon as possible', this morning a gov't spokesman confirmed that it had done so at the Fordow fuel enrichment plant according to Iranian broadcaster Mehr.

• Enrichment of uranium to 20% would bring Iran close to holding weapons-grade uranium, and is in breach of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA, the Iran nuclear deal).
• There had been some speculation this year that the US, under the presidency of Joe Biden, could become a signatory to the deal once again following the country's withdrawal in 2018 by President Donald Trump. Tehran's actions today could make this less likely.
• The decision comes a year after the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on the orders of President Trump.
• Iran's continued breaches of the JCPoA could prove too much of a provocation for the US and its Western partners to seek any form of continued rapprochement with Tehran, and risks an escalation in Middle East tensions.