Iran: Nuclear Fuels

(asked on 11th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take in response to Iran increasing uranium enrichment to 20 per cent.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 19th January 2021

We are deeply concerned by Iran's continued systematic non-compliance with its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). On 4 January Iran commenced uranium enrichment up to 20% at the underground facility of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which is in clear violation of Iran's commitments under the deal. We are also deeply concerned by the nuclear law passed by the Iranian Parliament in December, which obliges the Iranian Government to expand its nuclear programme and limit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring access.


We have made our position clear to Iran, including at the JCPoA ministerial meeting on 21 December and in an E3 Foreign Ministers statement on 6 January, that it must return to its JCPoA commitments. Iran's non-compliance jeopardises our efforts to preserve the JCPoA and puts at risk the opportunity for diplomacy with the incoming US Administration. We remain in close contact with the other remaining JCPoA participants to assess how to best address Iran's non-compliance within the framework of the JCPoA. The JCPoA remains the best, and currently only, way to monitor and constrain Iran's nuclear programme and ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.

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