One country that has expressed alarm about Iran’s rising production of uranium suitable for use in weapons is the United States.
“The US spokesperson expressed concern over Iran’s nuclear escalation, particularly in light of Iran-backed proxies’ ongoing dangerous and destabilizing activities in the region, such as the recent deadly drone attack, attempted attacks in Iraq and Syria, and Houthi attacks against commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea.”
Tehran is expected to accelerate its production of the high-grade material, according to a report released by the Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday.
Iran reportedly resumed manufacture of this substance suitable for use in weapons during the last few weeks, following a gradual pause in 2023. They are reportedly producing 60 percent uranium, which is somewhat less than the 90 percent uranium needed for bombs.
According to the IAEA, this increase has been noticed since the end of November. However, Iran is operating “according to the rules” and is doing “nothing new,” according to Mohammed Eslami, the country’s leading nuclear energy official.
Since 2015, Iran has expanded its uranium output by more than 22 times. Having said that, Iran asserts that they have no plans to develop nuclear weapons anytime soon.
Although there have been rumors of informal nuclear treaty negotiations between the US and Iran, tensions between Washington and Tehran have increased as a result of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
As Iran continues to manufacture this much uranium—more than they have in months—there is cause for alarm.
The amount of Uranium that might be produced was limited to 202.8 kg under a previous agreement from 2015. Iran has currently attained 4,486.8 kg because the 2015 agreement is no longer in force due to Trump’s dismantling of it in 2018.
When the IAEA reported in September that Tehran had prohibited its most senior inspectors from keeping an eye on the nation’s nuclear program, there was already cause for concern.
Even though Iran claims to be doing “nothing new,” tensions are still rising as the US and other nations observe Iran producing large amounts of materials suitable for weapons.
