IAEA finds higher enriched levels of uranium in Iran than declared: Report

Tehran, May 26 (ANI): The International Atomic Energy Agency has found evidence at an underground bunker in Iran of scientists having moved closer to enriching uranium to the level needed to produce nuclear weapons.

According to experts, the discovery of traces of uranium enriched up to 27 percent at the Fordow facility near Qom city is above Iran's previously highest-known enrichment grade, about 20 percent, but may be the result of improper calibration when the centrifuges were first used.

A report by the UN nuclear watchdog said that Iran claimed the slightly more highly enriched uranium was the result of a technical glitch, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Iran says its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes, but has been enriching uranium to higher levels than experts believe is necessary, though still far below the level needed for weapon-grade fuel.

"It is not necessarily a sign that Iran is enriching to levels beyond what it has declared," the paper quoted a diplomat in Vienna, as saying.

"Higher-than-expected enrichment has been found in the past at the Natanz facility in Iran," the diplomat added.

Meanwhile, the IAEA is seeking more details to assess Iran's explanation that the more highly enriched uranium came about as a result of a technical glitch, the report said. (ANI)