IAEA chief: Iran poised to ‘dramatically’ increase stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium
‘If they really make them turn — all of them — it’s going to be a huge jump,’ says Grossi as Tehran begins feeding new centrifuges and enriching uranium to 60%
Iran stands poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium as it has started cascades of advanced centrifuges, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Friday.
The comments from Rafael Mariano Grossi came just hours after Iran said it conducted a successful space launch with its heaviest payload ever, the latest for its program that the West alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
The launch of the Simorgh rocket comes as Iran’s nuclear program now enriches uranium at 60%, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. While Iran maintains its program is peaceful, officials in the Islamic Republic increasingly threaten to potentially seek the bomb and an intercontinental ballistic missile that would allow Tehran to use the weapon against distant foes like the United States.
Grossi, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the International Institute of Strategic Studies’ Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, said his inspectors planned to see just how many centrifuges Iran would be spinning after Tehran informed his agency of its plans.
“I think it is very concerning,” Grossi said. “They were preparing and they have all of these facilities sort of in abeyance and now they are activating that. So we are going to see.”
He added: “If they really make them turn — all of them — it’s going to be a huge jump.”
An IAEA statement issued shortly after Grossi’s remarks said Iran had begun feeding two cascades of advanced IR-6 centrifuges with uranium previously enriched up to 20%.
Cascades are a group of centrifuges that spin uranium gas together to more quickly enrich the uranium. The IR-6 centrifuges enrich uranium faster than Iran’s baseline IR-1 centrifuges, which have been the workhorse of the country’s atomic program.
“The facility’s updated design information showed that the effect of this change would be to significantly increase the rate of production,” the IAEA statement said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency verified on Thursday that Iran had started feeding uranium hexafluoride gas enriched to up to 20% instead of the previous 5% into two interconnected cascades of IR-6 centrifuges at Fordow enriching to up to 60%, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, an IAEA report said.
That meant the pace at which Iran would enrich to 60% would increase dramatically, the report showed, naming a monthly production rate of over 34 kg at Fordow alone. A quarterly IAEA report last month showed Iran’s total production rate at that level at two sites including Fordow was roughly 6 kg a month.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge the preparations. The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and says its space program, like its nuclear activities, is for purely civilian purposes. However, US intelligence agencies and the IAEA say Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003.
Iran is committed to Israel’s destruction. Over the past year it has twice fired massive barrages of missiles at Israel, which has vowed to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
