IAEA: Iran increases production of highly enriched uranium Israel kills Hezbollah commander Salami + Media: Hostage negotiations make no progress

According to a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has sharply increased its production of highly enriched uranium in the past three months. Between late October and early February, 25 kilograms of near-weapon-grade uranium with a purity of 60 percent were produced, the IAEA said on Monday in a report available to the German Press Agency. The quarter before that was less than 7 kilograms.

However, according to the report, Iran’s total stockpile of 60 percent uranium has fallen slightly in recent months to 121.5 kilograms because the material was mixed with lower enriched uranium. However, according to experts, this mixture could be reduced to the level of weapons weapons. According to experts, an atomic bomb weighing about 50 kilograms requires at least 80 to 90 percent uranium.

Iran’s leadership denies that it wants to build nuclear weapons. However, in another report on Monday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi pointed to recent statements by Iran’s current and former nuclear chiefs that their country has the technical capabilities to develop such weapons.

Such statements “only heighten the Director General’s concerns” about whether Iran has actually disclosed its full nuclear program, the IAEA said. According to Grossi, Tehran has done nothing in recent months to clarify questions about previously secret nuclear facilities and has only allowed the work of IAEA inspectors to a very limited extent.

In 2015, Iran committed in an agreement to severely limit its nuclear program. In return, the sanctions were lifted. The pact, which was intended to prevent the construction of Iranian nuclear bombs, was terminated in 2018 by then US President Donald Trump. In return, Tehran significantly expanded its uranium enrichment and limited IAEA controls. (sda/dpa)