The United States, Great Britain, France and Germany in a joint statement on Thursday condemned Iran’s acceleration in the production of enriched uranium, confirmed by a report published on Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reports France Presse, according to Agerpres.

“We condemn this measure, which further exacerbates the continued escalation of Iran’s nuclear program,” the four countries said in a joint statement, stressing that “Iran’s production of highly enriched uranium has no credible civilian justification.”

According to the IAEA, Iran “increased its production of enriched uranium in recent weeks after slowing from mid-2023.”

“These facts are a step in the wrong direction by Iran, which has the effect of tripling its monthly production of uranium enriched to 60%,” the US, UK, France and Germany said in a statement. , which accuses Tehran of “irresponsible behavior in a tense regional context.”

For its part, Iran says there is “nothing new” in the IAEA report. “We are producing the same (rate of) enrichment at the level of 60%. We have not changed anything or developed new capabilities,” said the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (IAEA), Mohammad Eslami.

To produce a nuclear bomb, uranium must be enriched to 90 percent, something Iran has not yet done but is getting close to, and Western countries are worried about Tehran’s rapid progress in this area. Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons.

After the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal passed in 2018 by former U.S. President Donald Trump and reimposed U.S. sanctions on Tehran, he has gradually scaled back the commitments made in the 2015 accord, which imposed Iran’s enrichment obligations. uranium up to a maximum of 3.67%