AEOI chief Ali Akbar Salehi previously explained that an IR-6 centrifuge can produce enriched uranium ten times faster than the country’s first-generation IR-1 centrifuges. The IR-9, for its part, works five times faster than the IR-6 and 50 times faster than the IR-1, Salehi added.

Regardless of the truthfulness of Iranian officials’ claims, the pursuit of faster and more advanced centrifuges is an obvious rejection of the 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA, signed between Tehran and world powers back in mid-2015, was attempting to curb Iran’s nuclear bomb-making projects. Iran was supposed to scale back its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of powerful sanctions. However, Iran’s officials did not show honesty and breached it before the ink dried.

“We had previously purchased similar tubes that the fuel passes through. However, I could not declare them at the time. Only one person knew about it in Iran… We had to be smart and intelligent, and in addition to not breaking the bridges behind us, we also had to build a bridge that would enable us to go faster if we were to go back… We had bought similar tubes at the same quantity. We were told to fill the main tubes with cement, so we poured cement in those tubes … However, we did not say that we had other tubes because if we did, they would have said, sir, pour cement in those as well … We are going to use the same tubes now. Now we have those tubes,” Ali Akbar Salehi admitted in an interview with Channel 4 state TV on January 22.

It is worth noting that since 1983, the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) was the first movement to reveal the Iranian government’s effort to obtain nuclear weapons. In addition, on August 14, 2002, in a Washington press conference, the NCRI revealed the existence of two secret sites (a uranium enrichment site in Natanz and a plutonium-producing heavy water facility in Arak) and details of the regime’s nuclear activities, which had remained a secret for 17 years. Information on Natanz included the existence of two 25,000 square-meter underground halls. Eventually, upon the insistence of the UN-nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Iranian regime was forced to show the two sites to IAEA inspectors and the big secret of the mullahs’ nuclear program was exposed. The revelation was a game-changer in the Iranian regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

However, the reality is the Iranian government sees its current situation too dangerous. Around a month ago, the political elite surpassed the severe protests that targeted the principles of the Islamic Republic. Notably, economic grievances rapidly triggered a political upheaval against the ruling system in its entirety. In this regard, Iranian officials are predicting each event either inside the country or abroad on the recent protests.

“The goal that the Americans and Zionists were pursuing through sanctions and placing maximum pressure on Iran was to push us into isolation and encourage the Iranian nation to rise against the state,” Rouhani said during his speech in Malaysia.

In such circumstances, while the Iranian government is challenged by nationwide protests, the rulers are trying to control public anger through ironic economic privileges. They also attempt to portray their regime as a world power that stood against the international community’s will.

Factually, Iranian authorities pursue to blackmail the civilized world into easing pressures and offering economic incentives. They seek to overcome dire financial conditions and the Iranian people’s desire for fundamental change by resorting to foreign aids.

However, 40 years of the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and equality have proven that this population is the archenemy of the theocratic rule of Iran, as they are the first victims of oppressive laws inside the country and adventurous policies abroad.