DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran on Monday began enriching uranium up to 20% at an underground facility and seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, further escalating tensions in the Middle East between Tehran and the West. The announcement of enrichment at Fordo came...
Analysts: Fire at Iran Nuke Site Hit New Centrifuge Facility
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A fire and an explosion struck a building above Iran's underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility early on Thursday, a site that U.S.-based analysts identified as a new centrifuge production plant. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran sought to downplay the fire, calling it an “incident”...
Iran Alleges UN Inspector Tested Positive for Explosives
VIENNA — Iran alleged Thursday that the U.N. inspector it blocked from a nuclear site last week tested positive for suspected traces of explosive nitrates. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it disputed Iran's account, without elaborating. The allegation made by Iranian representative Kazem Gharib Abadi...
Iran to Fuel Centrifuges in New Step Away From Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will start injecting uranium gas into over a thousand centrifuges at a fortified nuclear facility built inside a mountain, the country's president announced Tuesday in Tehran's latest step away from its atomic accord with world powers since President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal over a...
UN Atomic Watchdog Confirms Iran Installing New Centrifuges
BERLIN — The United Nations' atomic watchdog confirmed Monday that Iran is preparing to use more advanced centrifuges, another breach of limits set in the country's slowly unraveling nuclear deal with major powers. Iran had already announced the step, its latest violation of the 2015 agreement as it tries to...
Iran Poised for Faster Centrifuges as Nuclear Deal Collapses
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran was poised Thursday to begin work on advanced centrifuges that will enrich uranium faster as the 2015 nuclear deal unravels further and a last-minute French proposal offering a $15-billion line of credit to compensate Iran for not being able to sell its crude oil abroad because...
Iran Breaches Key Uranium Enrichment Limit in Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Monday began enriching uranium to 4.5%, just breaking the limit set by its nuclear deal with world powers, while it is still seeking a way for Europe to help it bypass U.S. sanctions amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The acknowledgment by the spokesman...
Iran Says It Soon Will Surpass Uranium Stockpile Limit
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will surpass the uranium stockpile limit set by Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in the next 10 days, the spokesman for the country's atomic agency said Monday while also warning that Iran could enrich uranium up to 20% — just a step away from weapons-grade...
Iran Threatens to Boost Uranium Enrichment if Nuclear Deal Fails
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran threatened Wednesday to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels in 60 days if world powers fail to negotiate new terms for its 2015 nuclear deal, raising regional tensions as a U.S. aircraft carrier and bombers headed to the Middle East to confront Tehran. A...
AP Interview: Iran Nuclear Chief Hopes Deal Will Survive
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's nuclear chief said Tuesday he hopes Tehran's landmark atomic deal with world powers will survive President Donald Trump withdrawing the U.S. from it, warning the Islamic Republic's program stands ready to build advanced centrifuges and further enrich uranium. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press,...