TEHRAN, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The launch of IR-6 centrifuges and 60-percent uranium enrichment were "a response to the evils" committed by other countries, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"That we announced we will activate IR-6 centrifuges in Natanz or increase enrichment to 60 percent today is the answer to your evils," Rouhani told a cabinet meeting.
"You cannot make plots against the Iranian nation and commit crimes in Natanz," he said, adding that "we will respond."
Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its plan to enrich uranium at 60-percent purity following the attack on its Natanz nuclear facility, Iranian news network Press TV quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as saying on Tuesday.
Also, Iran will install an additional 1,000 centrifuges with 50 percent higher enrichment capacity at the nuclear facility, said Araqchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating team in the Vienna talks with representatives from Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany.
Iran will continue legal peaceful technology under the IAEA supervision despite the plots, Rouhani said.
A blackout struck the Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran on Sunday morning. Iranian authorities have accused Israel of the recent "sabotage."
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67-percent of purity and its stockpile should not be more than 300 kilograms.
However, in a response to the U.S. withdrawal from the deal and imposition of sanctions, Iran on Jan. 4 this year started to produce uranium enrichment to 20 percent of purity and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced on April 3 that its stockpile has hit 50 kg. Enditem
