Material for three atomic bombs?
Iran triples its uranium production
December 26, 2023, 7:53 p.m
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Since the USA unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 under then-President Trump, Tehran has no longer adhered to the agreements. It is now known that the country is enriching significantly more uranium than in previous months.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has enriched significantly more uranium since November and is thus moving closer to meeting the requirements for building a nuclear bomb. The IAEA said the country increased its monthly production of 60 percent enriched uranium to nine kilograms per month since November – after previously reducing production to three kilograms per month since June.
Iran communicated its production plans at the end of November. IAEA inspectors verified the information during visits on December 19th and 24th, the IAEA said. It’s about the Natans and Fordow production facilities. Uranium enriched to around 90 percent is necessary to build nuclear weapons; enrichment to 3.67 percent is sufficient to generate electricity using nuclear power. According to the information, Iran already has enough uranium with a purity of 60 percent to be able to produce three nuclear bombs in the event of further enrichment.
In the summer, Iran reduced enrichment while informal talks with US officials about a nuclear deal resumed. Since the beginning of the war between the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, which is allied with Iran, and Israel, tensions between Washington and Tehran have increased significantly again.
In November, the IAEA wrote in a confidential report that Iran’s enriched stocks were 22 times higher than the amount agreed in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The USA, France, Great Britain, Germany as well as Russia and China concluded the agreement with Iran in 2015. It was intended to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. In return, economic sanctions against Iran were lifted. In 2018, the USA under its then President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement. As a result, Iran gradually stopped adhering to its obligations and began, among other things, producing highly enriched uranium. Since then, negotiations to revive the agreement have remained fruitless.