Iran has continued to increase its stockpiles of enriched uranium, in defiance of its deal with P5+1 world powers, the United Nations’ atomic watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday.
They reported the finding in a confidential document distributed to member countries and seen by The Associated Press.
IAEA said that as of 20th May, Iran’s entire store of low-enriched uranium totalled 1.73 tonnes, up from 1.1 tonnes in February. The IAEA reported that Iran has been persistently enriching uranium to a purity of up to 4.5%, higher than the 3.67% allowed under the JCPOA, which is furthermore a breach of the deal’s boundaries on heavy water.
Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, Iran signed this nuclear deal in 2015 with the United States, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia.
The agreement required Iran to accept strict rules and oversight of its nuclear activity in exchange for the phased removal of sanctions.
Under the deal, the P5+1 recognised Iran’s right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, as guaranteed by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The intent of the deal was to set back Iran’s nuclear programme so that if Iran were to pursue a nuclear weapon, the amount of time it would need to produce enough fissile material – an indicator known as “breakout time” – would be at least a year, up from just a few weeks.
Before agreeing to the nuclear deal, Iran developed its uranium up to 20% purity, just a small mechanical stage away from the weapons-grade level of 90%.
The nuclear deal is increasingly recognised as having failed to constrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with the United States officially withdrawing from the agreement in May 2018, and instead imposing extensive sanctions against Iran.
In 2019-2020, Iran sequentially abandoned its central commitments made under the JCPOA, and resumed most aspects of its nuclear programme, including large-scale uranium enrichment.
