Dubai, UAE

Iran has started enriching uranium at its underground Fordow nuclear facility to a purity of 60 per cent, the country's nuclear head said on Tuesday.

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This may vex Western powers pushing Iran to roll back its nuclear work by reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran is already enriching uranium elsewhere to up to 60 per cent purity, which is higher than the 20 per cent it produced prior to the 2015 agreement with major nations to curb enrichment at 3.67 per cent, but still far short the 90 per cent needed for material suitable for use in bombs.

ISNA news agency reported, "In a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has informed the agency that it has started enriching uranium to 60% purity at Fordow site using IR-6 advanced centrifuges." 

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he IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors on Thursday adopted a resolution directing Iran to expeditiously assist the organization's inquiry into uranium traces discovered at three undeclared locations. 

At Fordow, a facility hidden beneath a mountain, the semi-official Fars news agency reported that Tehran has also begun the process of "replacing the first-generation centrifuges (IR-1) with advanced IR-6 ones."

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Iran is only permitted to use first-generation IR-1 centrifuges under the 2015 nuclear agreement with six major world powers, but after United States' withdrawal in 2018, Tehran installed cascades of more effective advanced centrifuges, such as the IR-2m, IR-4, and IR-6. 

According to a report from Reuters, Tehran was preparing to use IR-6 centrifuges at the Fordow site, which are capable of switching between different levels of uranium enrichment, in order to step up its uranium enrichment.

(with inputs from agencies)