![\"iran-nuclear-centrifuges\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/iran-nuclear-centrifuges.jpg\" "\\"iran-nuclear-centrifuges\\"")
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The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a new report on the status of Iran’s nuclear activities on Wednesday, while Western signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action betrayed growing pessimism regarding the prospects for reviving that 2015 agreement which sought to lengthen Iran’s \u201cbreakout time\u201d for a nuclear weapon<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new report by the UN nuclear agency estimates that the Iranian regime has refined an additional 12.5 kg of uranium to 60 percent fissile purity since May, thus bringing the total to 55.6 kg. Meanwhile, the country’s overall stockpile of uranium grew by more than 365 kg, potentially setting the stage for rapid acquisition of much higher quantities of 60 percent enriched material once the regime’s nuclear facilities begin continually operating \u201ccascades\u201d of advanced centrifuges which were required to be dismantled under the original terms of the JCPOA.<\/p>\n Even with its current capabilities and its existing supplies of 60 percent enriched<\/a> uranium, the regime is now in a position to produce 25 kg of weapons-grade uranium \u2013 more than enough for one nuclear weapon \u2013 in the space of three to four weeks, according to experts. Their assessments are based on the IAEA’s latest estimates, but it is worth noting that there is no guarantee of these estimates’ accuracy.<\/p>\n Last year, the Iranian regime revoked international inspectors’ access to declared nuclear sites, and in June, the regime responded to censure from the IAEA’s board of governors by dismantling surveillance<\/a> cameras and creating what may be permanent blind spots in the agency’s understanding of recent nuclear activities.<\/p>\n The censure in question was based not on Tehran’s systematic violations of the terms of the JCPOA itself but rather on its refusal to cooperate with a probe into the past military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear program.<\/p>\n Following the nuclear deal\u2019s implementation, the IAEA eventually gained access to soil samples from three suspect sites that Tehran had not declared as having a prior role in the nuclear program. When man-made nuclear material was found in those samples, the IAEA began requesting explanations, and the regime began stonewalling. As of Wednesday, the agency\u2019s reporting affirmed that this obstruction is still ongoing, with Iranian authorities providing either incomplete or non-credible explanations for the IAEA\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n The agency explicitly stated that in absence of accurate and complete explanations, it cannot close the file on PMD and therefore cannot provide<\/a> assurances that Iran\u2019s existing nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Tehran has publicly maintained that it has never sought nuclear weapons capability, while Western intelligence agencies emphasize that the Iranian regime maintained an active nuclear weapons program at least until 2003.<\/p>\n "Dropping probes is not something the IAEA does or will ever do without a proper process. The key to this lies on a very simple thing. Will Iran cooperate with us?" @IAEAorg<\/a> DG @rafaelmgrossi<\/a> tells me after Russia's lead negotiator said the issue "seems to be settled." pic.twitter.com\/ySrRL38q69<\/a><\/p>\n — Becky Anderson (@BeckyCNN) August 22, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n