IAEA sees rise in Iran uranium stock to enough for six nuclear bombs - Reuters

The UN nuclear watchdog has found that Iran's stock of near-bomb-grade uranium has risen to levels which in principle could be refined further into the equivalent of six nuclear bombs, Reuters reported citing confidential IAEA reports.

Iran's stock of uranium enriched to near weapons grade has grown sharply even after a previous rise Tehran announced in December, two confidential reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency cited by the news agency found.

No progress has been made toward resolving the disputed program, the reports added, according to Reuters.

"The significantly increased production and accumulation of high enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern," the IAEA said in both reports.

Iran's has enriched of uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, closer to the 90% needed for a bomb. Tehran denies seeking a bomb but the United States, Israel and Western powers doubt its intentions.

Iran's uranium stock refined to up to 60% grew by 92.5 kilograms (kg) in the past quarter to 274.8 kg, one of the IAEA reports said. According to an IAEA yardstick, the amount is enough in principle for six nuclear bombs if enriched further.

"Iran states that it has declared all of the nuclear material, activities and locations required under its Safeguards Agreement. This is inconsistent with the Agency's assessments of the unexplained nuclear-related activities that took place at all four of the undeclared locations in Iran referred to above," one of the reports said.

The IAEA has for years been seeking explanations from Tehran about uranium traces at nuclear sites and other issues.

'The matter is political"

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran dismissed public concerns raised by IAEA over its nuclear program, with the country's nuclear chief accusing the agency of politicizing technical matters.

"The agency has received the answers to the safeguards questions, but there is a political will not to accept them," said Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.

"When the Director General of the Agency says that Iran should resolve its issues with Trump, it means the matter is political, not technical."

Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Eslami described Iran’s nuclear facilities as resilient against external threats.

"Threats to the country's nuclear industry have always existed," he told reporters. "Today and tomorrow, a nuclear defense exercise will be held at nuclear facilities. Iran is more resilient than the enemy imagines, and our infrastructure is not vulnerable."

Iran’s nuclear program remains a focal point of international tensions, particularly following Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the imposition of economic sanctions.

While Tehran has reduced IAEA inspections since 2021, it continues to argue that its nuclear activities are peaceful. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi recently said the UN body was willing to assist Iran in proving it was not seeking nuclear weapons.

"We want to make ourselves available, providing technically sound alternatives to eliminate the possibility that Iran develops a nuclear weapon, to prevent Iran, or to help Iran prove that they don't want to develop a nuclear weapon," Grossi told reporters in Tokyo.

The United States, meanwhile, has reinstated its "maximum pressure" policy on Iran, with President Donald Trump insisting that Tehran must never acquire nuclear weapons.