Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile ‘passes 300 kg limit’ set under nuclear deal
- An unofficial source claimed UN tests found Iran had breached uranium limit
- Iran vowed to expand its uranium stockpiles if there is no new nuclear deal
- Increased Uranium levels could enable Iran to manufacture an atomic bomb
Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile has passed the 300kg limit prescribed by the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, according to media reports.
The semi-official Fars agency attributed its Monday report to an unnamed source, who said UN inspectors had recently weighed Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium.
Iran has vowed to begin enriching its stockpile of uranium to higher levels later this month if world powers fail to negotiate new terms for the nuclear accord following the US decision to withdraw from the agreement and restore crippling sanctions.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (centre) and the head of Iran nuclear technology organization Ali Akbar Salehi inspecting nuclear technology in April this year
European countries have repeatedly urged Iran to abide by the deal.
The unravelling of the landmark nuclear agreement comes amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf, where Iranian forces shot down a US drone last month.
European countries that are still a part of the nuclear accord face a July 7 deadline imposed by Tehran to offer a better deal and long-promised relief from U.S. sanctions, or Iran will also begin enriching its uranium closer to weapons-grade levels.
Breaking the stockpile limit by itself doesn’t radically change the one year experts say Iran would need to have enough material for a bomb.
Coupled with increasing enrichment, however, it begins to close that window and hamper any diplomatic efforts at saving the accord.
‘I worry about the snowball effect,’ said Corey Hinderstein, a vice president at the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative who once led the U.S. Energy Department’s Iran task force.
An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the Iranian city of Isfahan
‘Iran now takes a step which puts Europe and the other members of the deal in an even-tougher position.’
Under terms of the nuclear deal, Iran agreed to have less than 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of uranium enriched to a maximum of 3.67%.
Previously, Iran enriched as high as 20%, which is a short technical step away from reaching weapons-grade levels.
It also held up to 10,000 kilograms (22,046 pounds) of the higher-enriched uranium.
Experts described the enrichment and stockpile limits in the deal as a sort of sliding scale.
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