Iran's stockpiles of enriched uranium now exceed more than 18 times the limit allowed by the 2015 international agreement, according to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A stock enriched by 20%
According to mid-May estimates, Tehran has thus increased its total reserves to 3,809.3 kg, against 3,197.1 kg in February, far from the ceiling of 202.8 kilos (or 300 kilos UF6 equivalent) to which it had committed. .
Iran also raised its stockpile of 20% enriched material to 238.4 kg from 182.1 kg previously.
This level, which is above the 3.67% set by the agreement, theoretically makes it possible to produce medical isotopes, used in particular in the diagnosis of certain cancers.
The Islamic Republic in the sights
The Islamic Republic also has 43.1 kg of uranium enriched to 60%, a threshold close to the 90% needed to make a bomb, against 33.2 kg previously.
This report will be considered at the IAEA Board of Governors next week, even as talks to salvage the Iran nuclear deal have stalled.
The JCPOA, the acronym for this 2015 pact, has been moribund since the unilateral withdrawal in 2018 of the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump.
Stalled negotiations
International sanctions have since been reinstated.
In response, Iran gradually freed itself from the drastic restrictions that had been imposed on its nuclear program, while denying that it wanted to acquire the atomic bomb.
The election of Joe Biden to the White House made it possible to relaunch, in the spring of 2021 in Vienna, efforts to revive the agreement, but negotiations have been at a standstill since March despite the announcement several times of the imminence of a compromise.
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