Sunday, December 5th, 2021
People report explosion
Iran tests missile system near nuclear facility
In the Iranian city of Badrud, people are surprised by an explosion and a lit sky. According to the military, an anti-aircraft missile is being tested nearby. Everything happened in a safe environment. Iran is currently negotiating the resumption of the nuclear deal.
An air defense test with an explosion terrified residents of a city at an Iranian nuclear facility. Inhabitants of Badrud, 20 kilometers from Natan’s nuclear facility, reported yesterday, Saturday evening, according to the Irna news agency, of a loud bang and a flash of light in the sky. A little later, the Iranian military gave the all-clear: it was a test of its own missile system.
The incident occurred during the negotiations to revive the nuclear deal in Vienna. Uranium is enriched in Natans. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the capacity of the plant had recently been increased.
“No reason to worry”
“An hour ago our missile system was tested in the region to check our combat readiness,” said the military commander responsible for the Natans region on state television. “There is nothing to worry about.” The test served to check the systems and was carried out in “an absolutely safe environment”.
Iran wants to enrich uranium up to 60 percent. The international nuclear agreement of 2015 only allows Tehran a uranium enrichment of 3.67 percent for the civil use of atomic energy. The 2015 agreement is designed to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons. Among other things, the country undertook to limit its uranium enrichment capacities and to allow regular inspections of its nuclear facilities. In return, international sanctions were lifted.
In 2018, under President Donald Trump, the United States left the agreement and again imposed massive sanctions on Iran. Thereafter, Tehran also gradually withdrew from the agreement. Since then, Iran has continuously expanded its uranium enrichment capacities and at the same time restricted the IAEA’s control options.
The current US President Joe Biden has basically signaled his readiness for a new version of the agreement with Iran. Negotiations are currently underway in Vienna to revive the agreement, but the United States and European negotiators believe that these are not going well. The US warned on Saturday that it would not allow negotiations to be slowed down while uranium enrichment and other activities were expanded.