Iran decreases nuclear production as Western sanctions are eased
Western sanctions will be eased after atomic output stopped in presence of inspectors
Iran has halted its most sensitive nuclear activity under a deal with world powers, the UN atomic agency confirmed yesterday, paving the way for the easing of some Western sanctions.
White House press secretary Jay Carney hailed Iran's actions and said the world powers would soon begin providing relief to Iran.
The European Union announced that it, too, was suspending some of the sanctions.
Iranian state TV said authorities halted enrichment of uranium to 20 per cent by disconnecting the cascades of centrifuges enriching uranium at the facility. The broadcast said international inspectors were on hand to witness the stoppage.
"In line with the implementation of the Geneva joint plan of action, Iran suspended the production of 20 per cent enriched uranium in the presence of UN nuclear watchdog inspectors at Natanz and Fordo sites," Mohammad Amiri, director general for safeguards at Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, told the official IRNA news agency.
The mutual concessions are scheduled to last six months, during which time six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - aim to negotiate a final accord defining the permissible scope of Iran's nuclear activity.
Western governments want such an agreement to lay to rest their concerns that Iran could produce an atomic weapon and ease the risk of a new war in the Middle East.