New York Times: 20% Increase in Iran's Enriched Uranium Stockpile

The New York Times reported in its Monday, June 1 issue that "international inspectors report that Iran's nuclear fuel reserves have increased by about 20% over the past 18 months." The newspaper cites a recent report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published on Friday, which also drew some criticism from Iran. The New York Times adds that Western officials and experts are unaware of the reason for this increase in uranium reserves. The newspaper states that one possibility mentioned is that due to some technical issues, Iran has encountered problems in converting part of its enriched uranium into fuel rods for reactors. Another speculation raised by the newspaper is that Tehran aims to gain more leverage in nuclear negotiations by increasing its nuclear fuel reserves. According to this news, the IAEA's recent report indicates that Tehran has gradually increased its uranium stockpile over the past year and a half, almost coinciding with the start of a new round of nuclear negotiations. However, the IAEA report specifies that agency experts, who monitor Iran's nuclear facilities daily, say there is no evidence that Iran is moving towards building a nuclear weapon. These experts also state that Tehran has halted the development of facilities that could be used for nuclear weapon construction. The report regarding the increase in enriched uranium reserves in Iran comes as the Obama administration is trying to convince the U.S. Congress that if a final agreement is signed, Iran will reduce its nuclear fuel stockpile by 96% within one month of the agreement. Iran and world powers are working to reach a final nuclear agreement in less than a month. One of the provisions of the final agreement under negotiation is that Iran is only allowed to keep 300 kilograms of its nuclear fuel, as this amount is below the level necessary to build a nuclear bomb. This means that Iran, if an agreement on this provision is reached, will have to destroy more than 9 tons of its nuclear fuel stockpile within a few months. The deadline for reaching a final nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group is set for the end of June 2015, which corresponds to July 10, 1394 in the Iranian calendar, and Iran hopes to reduce the severity of sanctions against it in exchange for greater transparency regarding its nuclear program. On Sunday, it was reported that the P5+1 countries have agreed on the method of reinstating UN sanctions against Iran in the event of a violation of the comprehensive nuclear agreement by Iran.