Iran has started cutting back on some nuclear technology, which could be reengineered to make nuclear weapons, in line with a deal with six world powers, a UN nuclear agency report said on Wednesday. However, diplomats familiar with the report cautioned that
the country is keeping thousands of machines that could be used for such a purpose on standby.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency report and the diplomats’ assessments present a mixed picture of the pace of Iran’s moves to comply with the July 14 deal it signed with the six countries and come about a month after the deal was adopted on October 18.
Since then, the report showed that Iran has reduced the number of centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium, which can produce nuclear fuel, isotopes for research or the core of an atomic bomb, depending on the degree of enrichment.
It said 11,308 centrifuges were standing at Iran’s main enrichment center as of November 15 over 3,000 fewer than before adoption day for the deal.