Iran further increases stockpile of enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels – Sun Sentinel

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN (Associated Press)

VIENNA (AP) — Iran has further increased its stockpiles of enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels, according to a confidential report released Monday by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the latest attempt of Tehran to exert constant pressure on the international community.

Iran is seeking the lifting of economic sanctions imposed on its controversial nuclear program in exchange for a slowdown in it. All of this is under the direction of Iran's supreme leader and is unlikely to change after last week's helicopter crash that killed Iran's president and foreign minister.

The report, seen by The Associated Press, said Iran now has 142.1 kilograms (313.2 pounds) of 60 percent enriched uranium, an increase of 20.6 kilograms (45.4 pounds) since the watchdog's latest report in February. Uranium enriched to 60% purity is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

According to the report, Iran's overall stock of enriched uranium currently stands at 6,201.3 kilograms (13,671.5 pounds), representing an increase of 675.8 kilograms (1,489.8 pounds). since the last report from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

According to the IAEA definition, approximately 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of 60% enriched uranium is the amount to which the creation of an atomic weapon is theoretically possible – if the material is further enriched to military grade levels of 90%.

Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, but IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has already warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near weapon levels to make “several » nuclear bombs if he chose to do so. He acknowledged that the agency cannot guarantee that none of Iran's centrifuges were removed for clandestine enrichment.

Grossi acknowledged that the agency cannot guarantee that none of the Iranian centrifuges could have been removed for clandestine enrichment.

Tensions have increased between Iran and the IAEA since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Since then, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program and has rapidly ramped up its enrichment.

Under the original nuclear deal with world powers, Iran was only allowed to enrich uranium to a purity of 3.67%, maintain a stockpile of around 300 kilograms and use only very basic IR-1 centrifuges – machines that spin uranium gas at high speeds for enrichment purposes. .

To ensure that Iran could not develop atomic weapons, world powers reached a deal with Tehran in 2015, under which they agreed to limit uranium enrichment to levels necessary for nuclear power. in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. UN inspectors were tasked with monitoring the program.

The latest IAEA report also says Tehran has not reconsidered its September 2023 decision to ban nuclear inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program and adds that it expects Iran “to do so in the context of ongoing consultations between the agency (IAEA) and Iran. »

According to the report, Grossi “deeply regrets” Iran's decision to ban the inspectors – a reversal of that decision “remains essential to fully enable the agency to effectively conduct its verification activities in Iran.”

The IAEA report also said the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian triggered a pause in IAEA talks with Tehran on improving cooperation.

Iran suggested that discussions related to cooperation between the IAEA and Iran “continue in Tehran 'at an appropriate date to be mutually agreed,'” the report said.

Iran and the IAEA are still negotiating how to implement a deal reached last year to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing atomic program.

The latest report also says that Iran has still not provided answers to the IAEA's years-long investigation into the origin and current location of artificial uranium particles found in two sites that Tehran n Varamin and Turquzabad have not been declared as potential nuclear sites.

The report said the IAEA request must be resolved, otherwise the agency “will not be able to confirm the accuracy and completeness of Iran's declarations” under the deal.

The report also states that no progress has been made so far in reinstalling additional surveillance equipment, including cameras, removed in June 2022. Since then, the only data recorded is from the cameras of the IAEA installed in a centrifuge workshop in the city of Isfahan in May 2023 – although Iran has not given access to this data to the IAEA.

The IAEA said that on May 21, IAEA inspectors, after a delay in April, “successfully repaired the cameras in the Isfahan workshops and the data they had collected since the end of December 2023 was placed under the distinct seals of the Agency and the Iranians on these sites.