27 percent enrichment is a normal technical matter: Iranian envoy

TEHRAN, May 26 (MNA) – The Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency said that efforts are underway to spoil the positive atmosphere of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA. Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh made the remarks in an interview on Saturday, in reference to efforts made by Western media outlets to inflate IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano’s new report on Iran’s nuclear program published on Friday, which said that UN inspectors had found higher-grade uranium traces at the subterranean Fordo uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. The Associated Press reported on Friday that the UN atomic agency has found evidence at Fordo that could mean the country has moved closer to producing the uranium threshold needed to arm nuclear missiles. The report said that the IAEA has found traces of uranium enriched up to 27 percent at the Fordo enrichment. Soltanieh said, “As mentioned in the IAEA report, this is a normal technical matter, which is being investigated by experts.” Efforts made by certain Western media outlets to politicize a “technical matter” in Amano’s new report are aimed at undermining “constructive” atmosphere of cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, he added.