UPDATE 1-Iran injects uranium gas into centrifuges, resumes enrichment at Fordow - Tasnim

Iran resumed uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow nuclear facility by injecting uranium gas into centrifuges, Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted the country's Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) as saying on Thursday.

"After all successful preparations ... injection of uranium gas to centrifuges started on Thursday at Fordow ... all the process has been supervised by the inspectors of (the) U.N. nuclear watchdog," Tasnim reported, quoting the AEOI's statement. A 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers bans Fordow from producing nuclear material. But, with feedstock gas entering its centrifuges, the facility - built inside a mountain - will move from the permitted status of research plant to being an active nuclear site. "The process will take a few hours to stabilize and by Saturday, when International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors will again visit the site, a uranium enrichment level of 4.5% will have been achieved," AEOI's spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told state TV.

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