Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is 18 times more than the 2015 agreement’s limit: IAEA
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Hashim Sheikh
- . May 31, 2022
- . Update: May 31, 2022 8:37 pm
Iran–Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has grown to more than 18 times the limit set in Tehran’s 2015 deal with international powers, according to the UN nuclear watchdog. In its most recent assessment on Iran’s nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency assessed that Iran’s total enriched stockpile was 3,809.3 kg as of May 15, 2022.
The 2015 agreement imposed a maximum of 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of a certain substance, which is equal to 202.8 kg of uranium. Iran is also continuing to enrich uranium to levels greater than the 3.67 percent limit set in the deal, according to the report.
The stockpile of uranium enriched to 20% is currently assessed to be 238.4 kg, up 56.3 kg from the previous report in March, while the stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% is reportedly 43.1 kg, up 9.9 kg. For use in a nuclear weapon, enrichment levels of around 90% are necessary. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
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According to a diplomatic source, the amount of 60 percent enriched uranium now exceeds the IAEA’s “substantial quantity” criterion, which is defined as an approximate amount over which “the possibility of building a nuclear explosion cannot be eliminated.”
However, the same source pointed out that some uranium would be lost during the enrichment process, implying that “more than 55 kg” would be required in actuality. The IAEA highlighted in a second report released on Monday that it still has “unanswered” issues about previously undeclared nuclear material at three locations — Marivan, Varamin, and Turquzabad.
Despite the IAEA’s repeated attempts to persuade Iranian officials to explain the presence of this material, they have refused. Iran has presented the explanation of a “act of sabotage by a third party to contaminate” the locations, according to the article, but no proof has been provided to back this up.
Given “the dissemination of the evidence” that prompted the IAEA’s inquiries, the diplomatic source said an act of sabotage was “not easy to believe.” The fresh reports come as negotiations to resurrect the historic 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers, which stalled in March, are still deadlocked.
