JERUSALEM (JTA) — Iran has not halted its uranium enrichment to a level of 20 percent, despite media reports that it had, according to an Iranian official.
Kazzem Jalali, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told the semi-official Iranian news agency FARS on Sunday that the Islamic Republic is continuing to enrich uranium to 20 percent because it is "needed for Tehran’s [Research] Reactor and its medical purposes," such as treating cancer patients.
Uranium enrichment, he said, is an "inalienable right."
Twenty percent uranium enrichment is considered to be close to the capacity needed to build a nuclear device.
On Saturday night, media reports said that Iran had put a halt to 20 percent uranium enrichment activities as a sign of good faith to Western countries to convince them to relax sanctions on the country.
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