Bushehr nuclear power plant
Bushehr nuclear power plantAFP photo

Iran is taking further action to comply with an interim nuclear agreement with six world powers, a monthly UN atomic agency report released Monday and seen by Reuters shows.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made clear that Iran is meeting its commitments under the temporary deal, as it and major powers seek to negotiate a final settlement of a decade-old nuclear dispute.

The report said Iran had diluted more than 4,100 kg of uranium enriched to a fissile concentration of up to 2 percent down to the level of natural uranium. This was one of the additional steps Iran agreed to undertake when the six-month accord that took effect early this year was extended by four months in July.

Refined uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants, Iran's declared goal, but can also provide the fissile core of a nuclear bomb if processed to a much higher degree, which Western states fear may be the country's ultimate aim.

The IAEA is tasked with checking that Iran is living up to its part of the interim agreement.

Iran and the six world powers - the United States, France, Germany, China, Russia and Britain - aim to end the decade-old nuclear standoff by a self-imposed November 24 deadline, which was set after the sides failed to reach an agreement by a previous deadline in July.

With less than six weeks to go before the target date, Western officials said last week there are still important differences between the sides, especially over the future scope of Iran's production of enriched uranium, which can be used to fuel atomic energy plants but can also provide the fissile core of a bomb if purified to a high degree.

Senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi said last week that nuclear talks with world powers could be extended again if no deal is reached by the November 24 deadline.

However, an American official dismissed the possibility of talks being extended yet again after November, saying there were no talks now about extending the deadline.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to warn against a bad deal with Iran. The latest warning came on Sunday, in a New York Times op-ed written by Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz.

In the editorial, Steinitz wrote that Israel “is deeply concerned about the trajectory of the ongoing negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program. The talks are moving in the wrong direction, especially on the core issue of uranium enrichment.”

“Choosing the ‘no deal’ option will very likely produce extra pressure — including some new sanctions — on Iran and, subsequently, might pave the way for a better deal in the near future,” he added.