Iran announced Saturday it has started up advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium more quickly, in a new breach of its undertakings under a troubled 2015 nuclear agreement.

President Hassan Rouhani officially inaugurated the cascades of 164 IR-6 centrifuges and 30 IR-5 devices at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant in a ceremony broadcast by state television.

Earlier in the day, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also said that Iran may have committed new violations in regards to its nuclear deal with world powers, according to the Reuters news agency.

The nuclear watchdog indicated in a report released last Friday that limits on Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had once again been violated but did not offer specifics.

The report was careful not to explicitly state that Iran violated the deal’s terms, but according to Reuters, such documents are usually produced after a violation has been detected.

The IAEA pointed to recovered uranium from items called “scrap fuel plates” as the main source of contention, adding that the violation occurred at Iran’s Esfahan nuclear plant.

“On 7 April 2021, the Agency verified at the Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant at Esfahan that Iran had dissolved six unirradiated scrap fuel plates for the TRR [Tehran Research Reactor] containing 0.43 kg of uranium enriched up to 20% U-235,” the report said according to Reuters.

Read More: I24