Iran continues to enrich uranium far beyond what is needed for commercial nuclear energy despite pressure from the United Nations to stop it, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday, adding that he plans to visit Tehran next month. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
The IAEA chief said that although the pace of uranium enrichment has slowed somewhat since the end of last year, Iran is still enriching it at an increased rate of about half a kilogram of 60% purity uranium per month.
Enrichment to 60% brings uranium closer to weapons-grade and is not necessary for commercial use in nuclear energy production. Iran denies that it is seeking nuclear weapons, but no other state has enriched uranium to this level without producing it.
According to the invalid 2015 agreement with world powers, Iran can only enrich uranium to 3.67%. After then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, Iran went far beyond the nuclear limits stipulated in the agreement.
Between June and November last year, Iran slowed uranium enrichment to 3 kg per month, but at the end of the year, enrichment volumes jumped again to 9 kg.
The increase came shortly after Tehran banned a third of the IAEA's core inspection team, including the most experienced, from participating in the coordinated monitoring of the uranium enrichment process.
This slowdown and acceleration is similar to a cycle that, in my opinion, does not change the fundamental trend - the constant increase in highly enriched uranium reserves
At the end of 2023, the IAEA warned that Tehran already had enough material to make three nuclear bombs if it enriched the material, which is currently at 60%, to a level above 60%.
Recently, there has been some alarming rhetoric that you may have heard, as senior officials in Iran reveal that they have all the elements to build a nuclear weapon
He said his concern was further heightened by what he called current targets in the Middle East, referring to tensions over Israel's war with the Iranian-backed Hamas group in Gaza.
Before his visit to Tehran, Grossi plans to fly to Moscow, where he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Iran and the Middle East, as well as Ukraine.
Russia signed the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), along with the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The deal lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities.
Russia has to progress a certain role with regard to Iran. It again had a role in the past as a JCPOA country, and in the current circumstances, when the JCPOA has almost collapsed, something has to fill this threshold