According to two senior diplomats, international atomic monitors in Iran discovered uranium enriched to levels just below those required for a nuclear bomb last week, highlighting the possibility that the country's unconstrained atomic activity might spark a new crisis.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is attempting to determine how Iran amassed uranium refined to 84% purity — the most significant level identified by inspectors in the country so far and only 6% below the concentration required for a nuclear bomb. Iran had previously informed the IAEA that its centrifuges could enrich uranium to a 60 per cent purity level.
Inspectors must assess if Iran created the material intentionally or whether the concentration resulted from an unintentional accumulation within the network of pipelines connecting the hundreds of centrifuges used to separate the isotopes. This is the second time that suspicious enrichment-related activity has been found this month.
According to a tweet from IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, in reaction to the news, the IAEA stated on Sunday that it is reviewing with Iran the outcomes of the agency's recent verification activities and would tell its board of directors as necessary.
Iran is becoming further isolated from the West while nuclear negotiations with Western powers remain on hold. In addition to international condemnation for its violent crackdown on massive protesters, the United States and European Union have strengthened sanctions against Iran for its military support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On Sunday, Israel accused Iran of attacking an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea on February 10. The incident occurred two weeks after an Israeli-blamed drone strike on an Iranian weapons storage near Isfahan.
The IAEA is compiling its quarterly report on Iran's nuclear safeguards in advance of a March 6 Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, where the Persian Gulf nation's nuclear activities will play a key role.
According to one diplomat, Iran has not submitted the necessary paperwork announcing its intention to increase uranium enrichment levels at two facilities near the cities of Natanz and Fordow.
Even if the found material was unintentionally accumulated due to technical difficulties in operating the centrifuge cascades — as has occurred in the past — it highlights the danger of Iran's decision to generate highly enriched uranium, according to another diplomat.
The IAEA has repeatedly said that levels as low as 60 per cent are technically indistinguishable from those required for nuclear weapons. The majority of nuclear power reactors employ 5%-enriched material.
In 2018, former U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions and withdrew the United States from a nuclear agreement between Iran and international powers. In response, the Iranian government increased its atomic program. Despite Tehran's denials that it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons, years of diplomacy with Western powers culminated in the agreement.
Grossi referred to the nuclear deal as an "empty shell" last month and stated that Iran has enough nuclear material for multiple bombs if it makes the political decision to proceed.
