October 30, 2020
Iran does not at this stage have enough enriched uranium to make even one nuclear bomb, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said.
His statement pulled the rug out from under many in the United States who say the Islamic Republic is getting close to having a bomb.
“The Iranians continue to enrich uranium, and to a much higher degree than they have committed themselves to. And this amount is growing by the month,” Rafael Grossi told Die Presse, an Austrian daily, in an interview published October 10.
Asked how long Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon—the so-called “breakout time”—he said: “In the IAEA we do not talk about breakout time. We look at the significant quantity, the minimum amount of enriched uranium or plutonium needed to make an atomic bomb. Iran does not have this significant quantity at the moment.”
The IAEA defines “significant quantity” as the approximate amount of nuclear material needed to make one nuclear explosive device. Grossi, significantly, did not say how much Iran would need to produce to reach a “significant quantity.” Nor did he say how long it would take Iran to gather a “significant quantity.”
The most recent quarterly IAEA report said Iran had 2,105.4 kilograms of enriched uranium, far above the 202.8 kilogram limit in the 2015 nuclear deal, but a fraction of the enriched uranium it had before the accord.
It is also enriching to up to 4.5 percent purity, above the 3.67 percent limit in the agreement but nowhere near the 90 percent that is considered weapons grade.
Many in the United States say Iran is close to having a bomb. Some on the left say Iran is near a bomb because President Trump quit the deal that limited Iran’s production of enriched uranium. Some on the right say Iran is close to emphasize the need to take more forceful action against Tehran.
