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The latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) marks a significant escalation in tone and concern over the Iranian regime’s nuclear activities. Released in late May 2025, the confidential assessment accuses Tehran of continued obstruction, undeclared nuclear work, and a dangerously expanding stockpile of enriched uranium that now brings the country within reach of nuclear weapons capability.
According to the IAEA, as of May 17, Iran has amassed over 408 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a quantity sufficient for approximately nine nuclear warheads if further enriched. Inspectors also cited persistent non-cooperation, including the regime’s failure to explain uranium traces at several undeclared sites—Lavisan-Shian, Varamin, and Turquzabad—all connected to the suspected nuclear weapons program.
The agency’s report underscores what has become increasingly evident: Iran is not pursuing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The clerical regime’s nuclear infrastructure, behavior, and investment priorities point clearly toward a weapons objective, concealed behind the façade of a civilian program.
The #IRGC Telegram post specifically lists the #Iranian regime’s nuclear capabilities, marking them with as follows:
✅Plutonium production capability
✅ Explosive mechanism construction capability
✅Explosion control chamber construction capability
✅Assembly and security… pic.twitter.com/HPSb76J50k— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) February 5, 2025
Technical Realities Defy the Regime’s Claims
Iran’s nuclear narrative collapses under scrutiny. After decades of effort, the country’s only operational nuclear reactor, Bushehr-1, contributes less than 1.5% of the national electricity supply. Although officially reported to cost under $2 billion, the Bushehr plant—originally launched under the Shah and plagued by decades of delays, shutdowns, and inefficiencies—has likely cost over $10 billion, with official figures widely seen as unreliable. Broader nuclear infrastructure—enrichment facilities, heavy water plants, uranium mines—has cost the country well over $100 billion in direct investment and, by credible estimates, up to $2 trillion in lost economic opportunity due to sanctions and isolation.
As former Iranian diplomat Qasem Mohebali admitted on May 20, 2025, “uranium enrichment has cost the country close to two trillion dollars” and imposed massive sanctions yet continues largely as a matter of national pride rather than economic logic.
With the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves and over 300 sunny days per year across much of its territory, Iran has no economic rationale for nuclear power. Experts estimate that each megawatt of nuclear capacity has cost Iran over $6,000 per kW, compared to under $1,000 per kW for combined-cycle gas plants and as low as $500 per kW for utility-scale solar. Investing in these alternatives could have met Iran’s energy needs more safely, cheaply, and without incurring international scrutiny.
Mohammad-Javad Larijani—senior advisor to #Khamenei—has just revealed more than intended. He said Iran is ready to share the peaceful parts of its nuclear program. That’s not transparency—it’s admission. If there are “peaceful parts,” what are the others?
The regime has never… pic.twitter.com/Dmof7XRnAV— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 20, 2025
Strategic Doctrine, Not Energy Policy
The clerical dictatorship’s pursuit of the bomb is not about electrons or turbines—it is about regime survival. In the eyes of Tehran’s rulers, nuclear capability offers more than deterrence; it promises strategic immunity against foreign pressure that might empower domestic unrest.
The regime draws comparisons not to peaceful energy producers, but to North Korea—a pariah state that crossed the nuclear threshold and, in doing so, secured insulation from intervention. Just as telling is the contrasting case of Libya, which relinquished its nuclear program under international pressure—only to see its regime collapse within years. For Tehran, the message is clear: surrender invites annihilation; the bomb ensures survival.
For a regime whose domestic legitimacy has eroded and whose economic foundations are deteriorating, the nuclear weapon is viewed as a strategic equalizer. That belief has sustained a program that has delivered no civilian benefit, triggered multiple rounds of sanctions, and inflicted immense damage on Iran’s economy and global standing.
NCRI Editorial: The Inescapable Core of #Tehran’s Nuclear Obsessionhttps://t.co/Hjho3uewG4
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 30, 2025
A Record of Deceit and Obstruction
Since its inception, Iran’s nuclear program has been built on concealment, deception, and stonewalling. From the clandestine enrichment site at Natanz revealed in 2002, to the Fordow facility buried in a mountain, to years of evasion at undeclared sites, the regime has repeatedly violated its safeguards obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The latest IAEA report simply confirms a long pattern. Iran’s leaders have consistently denied inspectors access, withheld information, and misled the international community. Its enrichment activities far exceed civilian requirements. Its weapons-related work, while officially denied, has been detailed by multiple intelligence agencies and confirmed in part by the IAEA’s own evidence.
In the face of the regime’s malign activities, the international community must no longer delay the activation of the snapback mechanism. This regime is a threat to global peace and security and must be placed under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
The ultimate solution… pic.twitter.com/xq7rckIpaQ— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) April 3, 2025
The Case Is Closed
The question before the world is no longer whether Iran’s clerical dictatorship is building a peaceful energy program. The data is overwhelming, the costs unjustifiable, and the regime’s intentions clear. Decades of technical evidence, stonewalling, and strategic behavior all point to a singular conclusion: this is a bomb-making enterprise posing as a civilian project.
The international community must move beyond calibrated caution. After years of deception, the burden of proof no longer lies with the world to show Iran is building a weapon—it lies with Iran to prove it isn’t. And it has failed.
The global demand must now be this: the complete dismantling of Tehran’s nuclear weapons machinery. No more enrichment, no more heavy water reactors, no more hidden sites. Only through total rollback and intrusive verification can the threat be neutralized—and the regime that has long thrived on defiance be held to account.