Iran Moves to Suspend Enrichment
Aiming to meet a deadline set by key European countries, Iran said Sunday it would suspend uranium enrichment starting today as it sought to allay fears that it was trying to make a nuclear bomb.
“We will start suspension of uranium enrichment activities from tomorrow on, as we promised,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a news conference Sunday.
Enriched uranium can be used as fuel in a nuclear power plant or, if processed further, in atomic weapons. Iran insists that its nuclear program is only for electricity; the U.S. and other governments suspect Tehran is trying to build a nuclear arsenal.
Tehran promised the European Union last week that it would freeze uranium enrichment by today, ahead of Thursday’s meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency board, which is to decide whether to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions for concealing some of its nuclear activities.
Iran agreed this month to suspend its enrichment program in return for economic benefits.
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