Grossi: Iran's Government is Significantly Increasing 60% Enriched Uranium Reserves

Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported in an interview with Reuters that the Iranian government is significantly increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%. The production of nuclear weapons requires enrichment to 90%, and Grossi's new comments are expected to raise international concerns about the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. According to IAEA standards, Iran's current reserves of 60% enriched uranium are sufficient to produce four nuclear bombs if enriched to 90%. Western countries have expressed concern over the escalation of the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities, emphasizing that enrichment to such a high level has no civilian justification and that no other country has achieved this level of enrichment without producing nuclear bombs. In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain, Grossi stated, 'Today the Agency announces that the capacity to produce [uranium] at 60% [by the Iranian government] is significantly increasing.' He noted that the rate of this increase, which was previously five to seven kilograms per month, is now 'seven, eight times or perhaps even more.' Simultaneously, according to an IAEA report that Reuters has seen, the rate of production of 60% enriched uranium at the Fordow facility will exceed 34 kilograms per month. The report adds that the Iranian government has stated that 'from now on' it intends to use 20% enriched uranium instead of 5% enriched uranium in two cascades of centrifuges at the Fordow facility. Fordow is one of the facilities for enriching uranium to 60% in Iran. According to the IAEA report, the changes made by the Islamic Republic will affect the frequency and intensity of the Agency's mandatory inspections of the Fordow facility. Grossi's new comments regarding Iran's nuclear activities come after he stated last month following a trip to Tehran that the Islamic Republic had 'accepted' his request to limit its 60% enriched uranium stockpile to reduce tensions. At that time, Grossi described this action by the Islamic Republic as 'a tangible step in the right direction.' However, some diplomats at that time indicated that this action by the Iranian government was conditional on the non-issuance of a resolution by the Board of Governors. On Thursday, December 1, 1403 (November 22, 2024), the Board of Governors condemned the Islamic Republic's lack of cooperation with the Agency and its secrecy regarding Iran's nuclear activities in a resolution. In this resolution, the Islamic Republic was asked to promptly provide 'credible explanations regarding human-origin uranium particles at two undeclared locations in Iran and to inform the Agency of the current locations of nuclear material or contaminated equipment' and to provide 'the necessary information, documents, and responses required by the Agency' in this regard and to grant access to the locations and materials needed by the Agency inspectors.