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VIENNA/TEHRAN — Iran has stepped up the production of highly enriched uranium in recent months, according to a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, seen by AFP on Saturday.
The agency spoke of "serious concern" that Iran had increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent between February and mid-May, and criticised "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran over its scrutiny of Iran's nuclear programme.
Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday denounced as "political" and unbalanced a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog saying Tehran had stepped up production of highly enriched uranium.
"The structure and content of this report... which was prepared for political purposes... are not balanced and lack a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the factors affecting the current situation," the ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry also accused Israel of providing "unreliable and misleading information" to the United Nations nuclear watchdog to be used in its new report on Tehran's nuclear program.
"Relying on unreliable and misleading information sources provided by the Israeli regime ... is contrary to the IAEA's principles of professional verification," the ministry said in the statement.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Iran considers nuclear weapons "unacceptable", reiterating the country's longstanding position amid delicate negotiations with the United States.
"If the issue is nuclear weapons, yes, we too consider this type of weapon unacceptable," Araghchi, Iran's lead negotiator in the talks, said in a televised speech. "We agree with them on this issue."