Iran Continue to Enrich Uranium to Weapon-Grade Levels, Breaching the JCPOA

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), reported Iran is suspected of secretly acquiring nuclear weapons by concealing the equipment required to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels. According to Western intelligence officials, the hard-line Islamic Republic is now concealing key components of its disputed nuclear program from UN inspectors.

The announcement comes just weeks after Tehran boasted that it could “easily” produce the high-grade uranium needed for nuclear weapons, It’s Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) claimed it could enrich uranium to 90% weapons-grade levels “if needed,” posing a new threat to the US. Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has increased substantially on the anniversary of General Qasem Soleimani’s murder, according to Sun Online.

Days after protesters attacked the American embassy in Baghdad, the powerful military chief was killed in a US drone strike. The assassination was rationalized by the Pentagon as he was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,” as per the Pentagon.

Iran is only allowed to keep a stockpile of 202.8 kilograms under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which it signed with the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia. With a 20% increase in uranium production, the element is now classified as highly enriched uranium (HEU), which can be used in bombs. This is a clear violation of the 2015 nuclear deal, which set a limit of 3.67 percent uranium purity.

“The new revelations that Iran is trying to conceal vital elements of its nuclear program from the outside world shows that Tehran has no intention of complying with its international obligations under the terms of the nuclear deal,” “It is yet another indication that the regime remains committed to acquiring nuclear weapons,” according to an intelligence source with the Telegraph.

Secret intelligence Officials believe the hidden material many of the illicit components are kept in secret sites run by the country’s feared Revolutionary Guard Corps which should be declared under terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal.  In addition, in the vicinity of Isfahan and Fordo which is regarded as one of the country’s key nuclear facilities, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had deployed a ‘Power 737′ missile system as well as Russian ‘SAM’ air defense missiles and has also upped its defenses operations.

As tensions in the Middle East rise, Iran also released images and footage of underground “missile cities” crammed with rockets and explosives. Thousands of missiles are ready to launch from secret bunkers if “enemies make a mistake,” according to images of massive hidden bases dotted across the Islamic republic.

With the violations, the regime has stated that it hopes to put pressure on the other countries involved to increase economic incentives in order to compensate for the harsh sanctions imposed by Washington following the US withdrawal from the JCPOA.