TEHRAN, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said Tuesday that Iran has started obtaining 20 percent enriched uranium and it is able to produce enriched uranium at higher purity.

"The process of producing 20 percent enriched uranium took more than 24 hours, but with new technologies this time it has now been reduced to 12 hours," Behrouz Kamalvandi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

"Obtaining of 20 percent enrichment is underway in two cascades" in the Fordow facility, he added.

The 20-percent uranium enrichment process was launched on Monday as part of Iran's Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions which was approved by the parliament in December 2020, according to Kamalvandi.

Kamalvandi noted that this action was taken in order to protect the rights of the Iranian people.

"We have the ability to enrich uranium above 20 percent (purity) easily and we are considering it," he added.