Iran has reportedly enriched uranium to 60 percent for the first time. Nine grams of the substance are produced every hour, nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi announced. With this step, the country wants to increase the pressure on the partners of the 2015 nuclear agreement. Previously, the nuclear facility had enriched to a maximum of 20 percent.
With the increase to 60 percent, the country wants to increase pressure on the partners of the 2015 nuclear agreement to withdraw the U.S. sanctions and return to the agreements. The 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement was designed to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. In 2018, under former President Donald Trump, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and imposed new sanctions on Tehran.