Agency: Iran’s 60% Enriched Uranium Reserves Approaching Levels Needed for Nuclear Bomb Production

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran’s reserves of uranium enriched to 60% have increased to levels that, if further enriched, would be sufficient to produce a nuclear bomb.

The international body said in its quarterly report prepared for the IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday, September 7, that Iran has increased its 60% enriched uranium reserves from 12.5 kilograms to 55.6 kilograms compared to three months earlier, the end of May.

Producing a nuclear weapon requires a specific amount of uranium and enriching it to 90% concentration.

The IAEA says Iran has come closer to the amount of material needed to produce a nuclear bomb.

The report further states that Iran’s low-enriched uranium reserves are 19 times higher than the permissible limit set in the nuclear agreement of June 2015 known as the JCPOA.

The IAEA adds that by August 21 of this year, Iran has stockpiled approximately 3,940 kilograms of low-enriched uranium reserves, about 132 kilograms more than May of this year.

The international body further stated that Iran has yet to provide a convincing and credible answer about the origin of uranium found at three undeclared sites: The concern of the IAEA Director General about Iran’s lack of cooperation on safeguard issues and the absence of progress in clarifying the origin of the mentioned uranium is “increasingly” growing.

The IAEA’s emphasis on Iran’s need to respond to the origin of uranium found at three of its undeclared sites comes as Iranian officials have recently made the revival of the JCPOA conditional on several conditions, including closing the safeguards case.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said on September 8 that due to “sanctions,” the IAEA’s demands on Iran are “excessive.”

Washington has warned that Tehran should not tie the IAEA’s investigation into nuclear materials and undeclared sites to a possible agreement to revive the JCPOA, but Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Ministry, announced on September 5 that “closing the safeguards case in the negotiation process” is part of the “guarantee” that the Islamic Republic is seeking to make this potential agreement “stronger.”

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has repeatedly warned in recent months that Tehran is not cooperating on the origin of uranium discovered at Iran’s undeclared sites.

In recent months, a resolution on this matter was also passed in the IAEA Board of Governors.

Source: Radio Farda