Iran: Construction Has Begun on $2B Nuclear Plant

Iran on Saturday began construction on a new nuclear power plant in the country's southwest, Iranian state TV announced, amid tensions with the US over sweeping sanctions imposed after Washington pulled out of the Islamic Republic's nuclear deal with world powers. The announcement comes as Iran has been rocked by nationwide anti-government protests that began after the death of a young woman in police custody and have challenged the country's theocratic government. The new 300-megawatt plant, known as Karoon, will take eight years to build and cost around $2 billion, the country's state television and radio agency reported, per the AP. The plant will be located in Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province, near its western border with Iraq, it said.

The construction site's inauguration ceremony was attended by Mohammed Eslami, head of Iran's civilian Atomic Energy Organization, who first unveiled construction plans for Karoon in April. Iran has one nuclear power plant at its southern port of Bushehr that went online in 2011 with help from Russia, but also several underground nuclear facilities. The announcement of Karoon's construction came less than two weeks after Iran said it had begun producing enriched uranium at 60% purity at the country's underground Fordo nuclear facility. The move is seen as a significant addition to the country's nuclear program. Enrichment to 60% purity is one short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Nonproliferation experts have warned in recent months that Iran now has enough 60%-enriched uranium to reprocess into fuel for at least one nuclear bomb.

The move was condemned by Germany, France, and Britain, the three Western European nations that remain in the Iran nuclear agreement. Recent attempts to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, which eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, have stalled. The US unilaterally pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal—formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—in 2018, under then-President Donald Trump. It reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to start backing away from the deal's terms. Iran has long denied ever seeking nuclear weapons, insisting its nuclear program is peaceful. (More Iran stories.)