Israel Calls On World Powers To Halt Iran Nuclear Talks Immediately

Israel on Thursday called on world powers to halt nuclear talks with Iran immediately, citing a UN watchdog's report that Tehran has started enriching uranium with more advanced centrifuges.

"Iran is carrying out nuclear blackmail as a negotiating tactic, and this should be answered by the immediate halt to negotiations and the implementation of tough steps by the world powers," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office quoted him as saying in a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Wednesday that Iran has started enrichment up to 20 percent at Ferdow with one cascade, or cluster, of 166 advanced IR-6 machines. The agency said Iran had also installed but was not yet operating another 94 IR-6 machines in a cascade at Fordow.

Tehran has accelerated higher degree of uranium enrichment this year, after its parliament passed a law in December 2020 demanding US lift economic sanctions. Uranium is being enriched to 20 and 60 percent purity and Iran has accumulated more than 200 kg of fissile material that could enable it to produce a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks.

With reporting by Reuters