Iran sparks WW3 nuke fears with major move to increase atomic bomb arsenal
Iranian officials have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons as tensions between Tehran and the international community intensify.
Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, a confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s latest report, Iran has 363.1 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60%.
That's an increase of 49.8 pounds since the IAEA's last report in May. Uranium enriched up to 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
By IAEA’s definition, around 92.5 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possible — if the material is enriched further, to 90%.
IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi had previously warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.
He has acknowledged the UN agency cannot guarantee that none of Iran’s centrifuges may have been peeled away for clandestine enrichment.
The report is the latest low in spiralling relations between Tehran and the IAEA.
It follows a June 6 resolution by the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors that censured Iran for failing to cooperate fully with the Vienna-based agency.
Iran’s 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers had put limits on its nuclear programme — which the West fears could be used for making nuclear weapons and Tehran insists is only for peaceful purposes — while lifting punitive economic sanctions imposed on Iran.
But the deal collapsed after the Trump administration in 2018 pulled the United States out of the agreement, leading Iran to abandon all limits the deal had put on its programme, and enrich uranium to up to 60% purity.
Meanwhile, surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have also been disrupted and Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors.
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The IAEA report comes just days after Iran’s supreme leader opened the door to renewed negotiations with the United States over his country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, declaring there was “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the new government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and reiterated his warnings that Washington was not to be trusted.
The IAEA report said that as of August 17, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stood at 12,681 pounds.
It concluded: “The continued production and accumulation of highly enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to do so, adds to the agency's concern."
The report acknowledged that before the June elections in Iran, the IAEA was told "that further engagement with the agency would be determined by the new government.”
After Pezeshkian's win, the IAEA congratulated him and offered to send the agency's chief to Tehran "to re-launch the dialogue and cooperation between the agency and Iran,” the report said.
But while the newly elected Iranian president confirmed “his agreement to meet” with the IAEA chief, nothing has moved forward on this since.
