Germany, France, Britain and the US have called on Tehran to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after the watchdog revealed Iran had secretly modified a facility for the production of highly enriched uranium.
Iran must comply with its legally binding international obligations, the four countries demanded in a statement released by the German Foreign Office in Berlin.
Production of highly enriched uranium by Iran at the Fordow Enrichment Plant carried significant proliferation-related risks and was "without any credible civilian justification," the statement said.
According to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Wednesday, IAEA inspectors discovered during an unannounced inspection of the Fordow nuclear facility, south of the capital Tehran, that enrichment machines had been "significantly" modified since November.
Tehran had violated its obligation to inform the IAEA about such steps, Grossi said at the time.
The plant has been producing uranium with a purity of up to 60% since the end of 2022. Grossi has pointed out in the past that Iran has thus approached the 90% enrichment level needed to produce nuclear weapons. Iranian politicians have stressed for years that they do not want to build nuclear weapons.
Iran pledged in 2015 to limit its nuclear programme. In return, Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic were lifted.
After the US unilaterally withdrew from the pact, Tehran gradually reversed the restrictions. Negotiations to restore the nuclear pact have been on ice for months.
