Iran Defies International Demands, Stockpile of Near Weapons-Grade Uranium Growing
A recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reveals that Iran has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, now totaling 363.1 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60% as of August 2023. This marks a significant rise of nearly 50 pounds since the previous IAEA report in May. Uranium enriched to 60% is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade enrichment, which is 90%. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has indicated that Iran possesses enough enriched uranium to potentially create several nuclear weapons if it chooses to pursue that path.
Relations between Iran and the IAEA have become increasingly strained, with the organization censuring Iran in June for its non-compliance with monitoring protocols. The report underscored that Iran continues to disrupt surveillance operations by preventing access to IAEA inspectors and failing to provide necessary information regarding its nuclear sites. Additionally, Iran’s previous commitments under the 2015 nuclear agreement were abandoned following the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, leading to the current escalation in uranium enrichment.
Despite the bleak landscape regarding nuclear oversight, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has expressed openness to renewed negotiations with the United States concerning its nuclear program. However, any discussions are occurring under a backdrop of distrust, and no significant progress seems to have been achieved since the recent Iranian elections. The IAEA has also noted that Iran’s total enriched uranium stock now stands at 12,681 pounds, with no definitive answers provided by Tehran regarding long-standing inquiries into undeclared nuclear sites within the country.
Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, a confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Thursday.
The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that as of August 17th, Iran has 363.1 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60 percent. That is an increase of 49.8 pounds since the IAEA’s last report in May.
Uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent. By IAEA’s definition, around 92.5 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possible — if the material is enriched further, to 90 percent.
The IAEA chief, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has previously warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. He has acknowledged the U.N. agency cannot guarantee that none of Iran’s centrifuges may have been peeled away for clandestine enrichment.
Thursday’s report is the latest low in spiraling relations between Tehran and the IAEA. It follows a June 6th resolution by the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors that censured Iran for failing to cooperate fully with the Vienna-based agency.
Iran’s 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers had put limits on its nuclear program — which the West fears could be used for making nuclear weapons and Tehran insists is only for peaceful purposes — while lifting punitive economic sanctions imposed on Iran.
But the deal collapsed after the Trump administration in 2018 pulled the United States out of the agreement, leading Iran to abandon all limits the deal had put on its program, and enrich uranium to up to 60 percent purity.
Meanwhile, surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have also been disrupted and Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons.
The IAEA report further says that Tehran has also not reconsidered its September decision to ban the agency’s inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program and that IAEA surveillance cameras remain disrupted.
The IAEA said it had requested an August 8th letter that Iran provide access to a centrifuge manufacturing site in the city of Isfahan, to enable the agency to service its cameras, but received no reply.
Additionally, the report says Iran has still not provided answers to the nuclear watchdog’s years-long investigation about the origin and current location of man-made uranium particles found at two locations that Tehran has failed to declare as potential nuclear sites, known as Varamin and Turquzabad.
The IAEA report comes just days after Iran’s supreme leader opened the door to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, declaring there was “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks on Tuesday set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the new government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and reiterated his warnings that Washington was not to be trusted.
The IAEA report said that as of August 17th, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stood at 12,681 pounds.
The report acknowledged that before the June elections in Iran, the IAEA was told “that further engagement with the agency would be determined by the new government.”
After Pezeshkian’s win, the IAEA congratulated him and offered to send the agency’s chief to Tehran “to re-launch the dialogue and cooperation between the agency and Iran,” the report said. But while the newly elected Iranian president confirmed “his agreement to meet” with the IAEA chief, nothing has moved forward on this since.
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