UN watchdog says Iran is continuing production of highly enriched uranium

By Reuters 29 August 2024, 6:47 pm

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Centrifuges line a hall at the Uranium Enrichment Facility in Natanz, Iran, in a still image from a video aired by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting company on April 17, 2021, six days after the hall had been damaged in a mysterious attack. (IRIB via AP)

Iran’s production of highly enriched uranium continues and it has not improved cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog despite a resolution demanding this at the agency’s last board meeting, watchdog reports seen by Reuters show.

Iran’s stock of uranium in the form of uranium hexafluoride enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons-grade, grew an estimated 22.6 kilograms to 164.7 kilograms, one of the two confidential quarterly International Atomic Energy Agency reports sent to member states says.

According to an IAEA yardstick, that is 2 kilograms short of being enough, in theory, if enriched further, for four nuclear bombs.