He rejected the baseless claims by Americans and Zionists that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, saying that Iran does not at this stage have enough enriched uranium to make one nuclear bomb under the UN atomic watchdog’s official definition.
“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,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi told Die Presse in an interview published on its website on Saturday.
Asked about 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.”
This is while Iran always rejected ever having had a nuclear weapons programme, saying its nuclear programme is purely for energy purposes.
The most recent quarterly IAEA report on Iran last month said it had 2,105.4 kg of enriched uranium, far above the 202.8 kg limit in a 2015 deal with big powers but a fraction of the enriched uranium it had before the accord.
Iran's increase in its enriched Uranium stockpile in response to other parties' failure to fulfill their commitments under the JCPOA. Tehran has highlighted that all its measures are reversible as soon as other parties start to adhere to their commitments. Meanwhile, Iran has continued cooperation with the IAEA inspectors.
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