TEHRAN (AA) : After the US withdrew from the nuclear deal six years ago, Iran has accelerated its nuclear activities, increasing its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium more than 14-fold in three years.
In 2015, an agreement was signed between Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany (5+1) — to regulate and oversee Tehran’s nuclear activities.
The nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), allows Tehran to continue enriching uranium up to 3.67% and to possess no more than 300 kilograms of uranium.
The agreement allows Iran to sell excess uranium. Previously, Iran enriched uranium up to 20% purity.
On May 8, 2018, under former US President Donald Trump, Washington withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sanctions on Iran. A year later, Iran began suspending some commitments due to lack of counteraction against the sanctions by other parties.
Iran suspends all commitments after Soleimani’s killing
Iran announced on Jan. 5, 2020, as the first step after the killing of General Qasem Soleimani during the Trump era, that it suspended all its commitments under the nuclear agreement.
Afterward, Iran gradually escalated its nuclear activities.
Following the assassination of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s parliament passed a law in November 2020 to accelerate nuclear activities.
Despite prior government objections, the approved law in Parliament mandated Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization to commence enriching uranium to at least 20% and to increase low-enriched uranium stocks.
New centrifuges for faster uranium enrichment installed
Faster uranium enrichment was achieved with IR-2, IR-4, and IR-6 centrifuges replacing IR-1 centrifuges allowed under the nuclear deal.
On Jan. 5, 2021, under the said law, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization announced that uranium was enriched to 20% purity at the nuclear facility in Fordo, under the supervision of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran announced in April 2021 its first-ever enrichment of uranium to 60% purity.
Iran’s 60% enriched uranium stockpiles increase over 14-Fold in three years
Tehran’s uranium enrichment to 20% and 60% purity is viewed as a significant step, as it brings Iran closer to obtaining weapons-grade uranium, which is crucial for nuclear bomb production.
In its May 27 report, the IAEA stated that Tehran continued to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile reached 6,201.3 kilograms as of May 11, marking a 675.8-kilogram increase from the previous report three months ago.
The report noted Tehran’s ongoing production of 60% enriched uranium, with Iran now holding 142 kilograms, a rise of over 20 kilograms from the previous report.
Tehran’s use of advanced centrifuges led to an increase in highly enriched uranium stocks up to 60%, reaching 142 kilograms, it said.
In the report released by IAEA on September 7, 2021, Tehran’s stockpiles of uranium enriched up to 60% surged by over 50 times in three years, from 2.4 kilograms on August 30 to the current amount. Additionally, Iran increased its stockpiles of uranium enriched to 20% from 62.8 kilograms in 2021 to 751 kilograms in the same period.
Enriched uranium stockpiles nearly doubled
Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile reached 6,201 kilograms, up from 3,241 kilograms in September 2021 and around 5,500 kilograms in the previous quarter, indicating an increase of approximately threefold over three years and 675.8 kilograms over the past three months.
Forty-two kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity could potentially produce one atomic bomb if further enriched to at least 90% purity, according to the IAEA.
Iran asserts non-military intent for nuclear program
Tehran claims that high-level uranium enrichment is for civilian purposes, while the IAEA states that enrichment to 60% purity is unnecessary for civilian use.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Chief Mohammad Eslami stated earlier that they enriched uranium to high levels to ensure the lifting of sanctions, emphasizing that their country’s nuclear program is not military-oriented.
The July 2023 intelligence assessment report from the US National Intelligence Directorate Office stated that despite Iran’s increased activities that could lead to nuclear weapon production, it has not yet pursued nuclear weapon production.
Iran states that it will realign its nuclear activities with the agreement if the US returns to the nuclear deal and relevant sanctions are lifted.
Khamenei’s fatwa and Iran’s nuclear bomb capability
Following Israel’s attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus on April 1, some politicians in the country argued that Tehran should reconsider its nuclear weapons policy.
Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa in the early 2000s banning the development or use of nuclear weapons.
After Israel’s attack, some politicians in Iran suggested that Khamenei’s fatwa could change and that Iran could also produce nuclear weapons.
After President Ebrahim Raisi reaffirmed Iran’s stance against nuclear weapons on April 27, Kemal Harrazi of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations suggested on May 13 that Iran might reconsider its nuclear strategy if threatened with nuclear weapons by Israel.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi stated that Tehran possessed enough enriched uranium to make “a few” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.
