(Bloomberg) — International nuclear monitors in Iran last week discovered uranium enriched to levels just below those required for a nuclear weapon, according to two senior diplomats, underscoring the risk that the country’s unrestricted nuclear activities could trigger a new crisis could trigger.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency is trying to clarify how Iran has been enriching uranium, which is enriched to 84% purity — the highest level found by inspectors in the country so far, and a concentration just 6% below what it is weapon is needed. Iran had previously told the IAEA that its centrifuges were configured to enrich uranium to 60% purity.
Inspectors must determine if Iran produced the material intentionally or if the concentration was an unintentional accumulation within the network of pipes connecting the hundreds of high-speed centrifuges used to separate the isotopes. It is the second time this month that observers have spotted suspicious enrichment-related activity.
The development comes as Iran becomes increasingly isolated from the West and nuclear talks with world powers remain suspended. The country has also been widely condemned for its deadly crackdown on major protests, and the US and European Union have stepped up sanctions on Iran over its military support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
US focus on Iran thwarts arms aid to Russia, envoy says
Earlier Sunday, Israel blamed Iran for a Feb. 10 attack on an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea. The incident came about a fortnight after Tehran accused Israel of a drone attack on a weapons depot near the Iranian city of Isfahan.
The IAEA is preparing its quarterly security report for Iran ahead of a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna March 6, at which the nation’s nuclear work in the Persian Gulf will feature prominently on the agenda.
According to a diplomat, Iran has failed to submit the necessary forms declaring its intention to increase uranium enrichment at two facilities near the cities of Natanz and Fordow.
Although the discovered material was mistakenly accumulated due to technical difficulties in operating the centrifuge cascades – which has happened before – it underscores the danger of Iran’s decision to produce highly enriched uranium, the other diplomat said.
The IAEA has repeatedly stated that levels as low as 60% are technically indistinguishable from the level required for a nuclear weapon. Most nuclear power plants use material that is enriched to 5% purity.
A nuclear deal between Iran and world powers fell through after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the US in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. In response, Iranian officials expanded the country’s nuclear program. Tehran denies it is seeking to build nuclear warheads but fears it could develop the technology to do so, fueling years of diplomacy that led to the deal with world powers.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi last month described the nuclear deal as an “empty shell” and said Iran has enough nuclear material for multiple weapons should it make the political decision to move forward.
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