MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) - A high-ranking Russian diplomat has described the Iranian authorities' decision to resume producing uranium enriched to 20% as predicable and reversible.
"Iran announced that it resumes enrichment of uranium to 20%. This isn't breaking news. This step was predictable in light of the law passed by the Iranian Parliament. The main point is that it remains reversible within possible normalization of the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA]," Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on Twitter on Monday.
"We [Russia] aren't enthusiastic about further deviation of Tehran from its commitments under JCPOA," Ulyanov said in another tweet.
"But there is nothing to overdramatize. The nuclear program remains fully transparent and verifiable," he said.
He reiterated the need to focus on efforts to restore comprehensive implementation of the nuclear deal.
Iran on Monday resumed enriching uranium to 20%, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei told the country's state-run media.
"A few minutes ago, the process of producing 20% enriched uranium has started in Fordow enrichment complex," Rabiei said.
Tehran earlier informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its intention to increase uranium enrichment to 20%. Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, in turn, said that in order to begin enriching uranium to 20%, natural uranium in the centrifuges at the Fordow facility needs to be replaced by uranium already enriched to 4%.
"This should be done under the IAEA's oversight," he said.
"We are ready for it and will begin producing [uranium enriched to 20%] as soon as possible," Salehi said.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to 4.5% purity, above the 3.67% limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran decided to increase the level of uranium enrichment after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the accord.