IAEA: Iran continues to increase uranium enrichment

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran is increasing uranium enrichment by a significant amount each month, well above its commitments. He stressed that Iran does not yet have the amount of uranium needed to produce a nuclear weapon at this stage.

Rafael Grossi expressed concern that Iran is “increasing uranium enrichment every month.” The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency stressed that Iran is currently enriching uranium far beyond its commitments under the nuclear deal (JCPOA).

In an interview with the Austrian newspaper Presse am Sonntag, Grossi said that Iran's nuclear program has made great progress and that the country now has "a great capacity" to produce nuclear weapons; however, he emphasized that Iran does not yet have enough enriched uranium to produce a bomb.

In response to a question about when Iran would be ready to produce nuclear weapons, he said: "The IAEA does not comment on a specific time; we only report on the amount of uranium or plutonium needed to make a nuclear bomb, and Iran does not have enough at the moment."

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that despite the difficulties caused by the spread of the Corona virus, a team of Agency colleagues is always in Iran and is monitoring the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

In response to a question about the possibility of a nuclear competition in the Middle East between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Grossi said that Saudi Arabia is still in the very preliminary stages, but stressed that they have begun detailed plans and intend to build "ten nuclear power plants or more."

Source: DW