The United Nations watchdog has found that Iran is building up near-weapons-grade uranium in defiance of international demands to curb its nuclear program.
According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran currently has 60% pure uranium, just below the 90% purity needed for weapons, and enough to make about four nuclear bombs. There is.
The report found that as of October 26, Iran had about 400 pounds of 60% enriched uranium, an increase of 40 pounds since August.
It takes about 92 pounds of 90% enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon.
Iran's total stockpile of enriched uranium at all levels stands at approximately 14,560 pounds, an increase of 1,880 pounds since August.
This comes after Iran offered to stop enriching uranium beyond 60%, but it also comes as the European Union and UK halt efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran and withdraw a condemnation resolution sought by the IAEA. limited to cases where
Iran, led by Ayatollah Khamenei, is building up near-weapon-grade uranium, defying international demands to rein in its nuclear program, the United Nations watchdog has said. (Getty Images)
In a meeting between IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi and a senior Iranian diplomat, he said, “The IAEA needs technical verification to confirm the possibility that Iran will not further expand its U-235 enriched uranium stockpile.'' Measures were discussed, including measures “if implemented,'' Grossi said.
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He added that Iran has said it will consider accepting inspectors from the agency to monitor nuclear material.
Experts say there is no reliable use of 60% uranium at the civilian level.
After Israel hollowed out Iran's biggest proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, there was growing concern in the West that Iran would decide that pursuing a nuclear bomb was its best deterrent. There is. U.S. intelligence agencies have indicated that it has increased its manufacturing capabilities over the past year.
It is not yet clear whether President-elect Trump will take a belligerent or diplomatic stance toward Iran, but he has promised to crack down on sanctions against the regime that President Biden says has failed to enforce.
The European Union on Monday expanded sanctions against Iran for allegedly supporting Russia in the Ukraine war, targeting state-run shipping companies and ships used to transport drones and missiles. In conjunction with this, the UK froze the assets of a shipping company in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at Iran's Parchin military base on the outskirts of Tehran on October 27, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
A replica of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant on display at the International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology in Isfahan on May 6, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied that Iran was supporting Russia and warned that sanctions would prompt Iranian retaliation.
“There is no legal, logical or moral basis for such an act. If anything, it only enforces what it is ostensibly trying to prevent,” Araguchi wrote about X.
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“Freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle of the law of the sea. When applied selectively by some, such short-sighted thinking usually tends to boomerang,” Arraguchi wrote.
The IAEA board is expected to move forward with a European-backed resolution of censure, which could take the matter to the UN Security Council for consideration of action against Tehran.
The resolution condemns the Iranian government's lack of action and calls for a comprehensive report covering all unanswered questions about Iran's nuclear program.
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According to the latest available U.S. information, Iran has not officially decided whether to build a nuclear bomb. But as of September 2024, Iran could produce weapons-grade uranium in about seven days if it wanted to, and could produce a nuclear bomb within a month, according to David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security. It will be possible to produce up to nine shots.
