Iran has continued to expand its stockpile of uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, citing a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The nuclear watchdog of the United Nations said as of Oct. 26, Tehran had 182.3 kilograms (401.9 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) since its last report in August.
This level of enrichment is just a technical step from 90% enrichment, considered weapons grade. According to the IAEA, it is possible to create an atomic bomb with roughly 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% if the material is further enriched to 90%.
Tuesday’s report was said to have estimated that the Islamic Republic’s total stockpile of enriched uranium stands at 6,604.4 kilograms (14,560 pounds)—an increase of 852.6 kilograms (1,879.6 pounds) since August.
Earlier this week, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran hopes that Wednesday’s IAEA meeting, which is expected to pass a resolution against the Islamic Republic, will remain free of “political pressure.”
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei Baghaei told reporters at a press conference that the regime hopes that Britain, Germany and France will “allow the issues between Iran and the [IAEA] agency to continue in a technical way and away from political pressures and considerations.”
The remarks came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that “there is still an opportunity for diplomacy” over the nuclear program. But he warned that the opportunity was “limited.”
He added that Iran was prepared for “confrontation” or “cooperation,” depending on the path chosen by the international community.
During a news conference in Tehran last week, IAEA director Rafael Grossi cautioned against a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“I say this with regards to Iran … , nuclear installations should not be attacked,” he said, in an apparent message to the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated earlier in the week that Iran was “more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities. We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal—to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel.”
The IDF is believed to have knocked out Iran’s air defenses during its retaliatory attack on Oct. 26. In addition, a recent Axios report suggested that the Israeli airstrikes on Iran last month destroyed a secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, 19 miles southeast of Tehran.
The clandestine site held sophisticated equipment used for testing explosives needed to detonate nuclear devices, Axios said, citing three U.S. government sources, as well as current and former Israeli officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Monday that Jerusalem will review its ability to act against Iran once the new U.S. administration headed by President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
At the start of the discussion, the prime minister said that while the war is being waged on seven fronts, “It has one source—Iran … [whose] goal is the destruction of the State of Israel,” according to a Knesset readout.
“Our ability to act against these three threats will be evaluated in the near future together with the incoming administration in Washington,” he said.
