Iran further increases stockpile of enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels, watchdog says

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 a lifting of economic sanctions imposed over its controversial nuclear program in exchange for a slowdown in the program. The program – like all matters of state in Iran – is under the direction of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that is unlikely to change in the wake of last week's helicopter crash that killed the Iranian president and foreign minister.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's report also comes amid heightened tensions across the Middle East due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Israel and Iran carried out direct strikes on each other's territories for the first time last month.

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 UN 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 (1,3671.5 pounds), representing an increase of 675.8 kilograms (1,489.8 pounds). since the previous IAEA report.

The IAEA definition states that about 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of 60 percent enriched uranium is the amount at which the creation of an atomic weapon is theoretically possible – if the material is further enriched, to 90 percent. %.

Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is intended only for peaceful purposes, but IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has previously warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to a level close to that of a weapon to make “multiple” nuclear bombs if he chose to do so. . He acknowledged that the UN agency cannot guarantee that none of Iran's centrifuges were 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, reached in 2015, 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.

The 2015 deal saw Tehran agree to limit uranium enrichment to levels needed for nuclear power production in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. At the time, UN inspectors were responsible for monitoring the program.

Monday's report also says Tehran has not reconsidered its September 2023 decision to ban IAEA inspectors from further monitoring of 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 inspectors – and a reversal of that decision “remains essential to fully enable the agency to effectively conduct its verification activities in Iran.”

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

Before the May 19 helicopter crash, Iran had agreed to hold technical negotiations on May 20, following Grossi's visit earlier this month. But those meetings were cut short because of the crash. Iran then sent a letter on May 21, saying its nuclear team wanted to continue discussions in Tehran “at an appropriate date that will be mutually agreed upon,” according to the report.

The report also said 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 does not not declared as potential nuclear sites, Varamin and Turquzabad.

He said the IAEA request must be resolved, otherwise the agency “will not be able to confirm the accuracy and completeness of Iran's statements” under a safeguards agreement between Tehran and the nuclear watchdog.

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 separate seals of the Agency and the Iranians on the sites.

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