Iran

Iran has increased its supply of uranium that has been enriched to 60% purity, according to confidential International Atomic Energy Agency reports sent to member states and seen by several news agencies.

Atomic weapons can be created when uranium enriched to 60% is further enriched to 90%. The enrichment procedure is a short, technical process.

However, Iran has offered to cap its stockpile of enriched uranium if Western powers abandon their plan to pass a resolution against the Middle Eastern country at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting this week in Vienna. The resolution is about Iran’s lack of cooperation with the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency.

Diplomats told Reuters the campaign for the resolution, backed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, continues.

If the resolution is adopted, the IAEA would then have to issue a “comprehensive report” on Iran’s nuclear activities, diplomats told Reuters.

Iran made the offer to stop producing the enriched uranium last week during a visit to Tehran by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

One day after Grossi’s visit, IAEA inspectors confirmed that “Iran had begun implementation of preparatory measures aimed at stopping the additional stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235” at its underground nuclear sites in Fordow and Natanz.

The IAEA report revealed that as of October 26, Iran had 182.3 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium, an increase of 17.6 kilograms since the August report. The Middle Eastern country maintains that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes only.

Grossi has previously warned that Iran has enough enriched uranium that could be further enriched to make several atomic weapons.

Iran’s original IAEA deal allowed it to enrich uranium to 3.67% purity and keep a supply of only 300 kilograms of uranium.

IAEA’s dispute with Iran comes at an internationally sensitive time as Iran and Israel have exchanged missile attacks related to Israel’s war with Hamas and Hezbollah, designated terror groups that Iran supports.

In addition, Donald Trump will become the U.S. president in January. During Trump’s first term in office, he withdrew the U.S. from the world’s nuclear deal with Iran, a move that exposed Iran to sanctions that have had a crippling effect on its economy.

Some information provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and United Kingdom against Tehran over its support for Russia's war on Ukraine.

"While the president of Ukraine has admitted that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been exported to Russia, the measures of the European Union and United Kingdom in applying sanctions against Iran cannot be justified," ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement.

Later Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of Hungary, which holds the rotating EU presidency, to protest the new sanctions.

The European Union on Monday widened sanctions against Iran over its alleged support for Russia's war on Ukraine, including targeting the national seafaring company, vessels and ports used to transfer drones and missiles.

Acting in parallel, the U.K. also announced fresh sanctions against Iran on Monday, freezing the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line.

The sanctions also included the national airline, Iran Air, for transporting ballistic missiles and military supplies to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Iran has repeatedly rejected Western accusations that it has transferred missiles or drones to Moscow for use against Kiev.

Ahead of the sanctions announcement, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday the EU was using the "nonexistent missile pretext" to target its shipping lines.

"There is no legal, logical or moral basis for such behavior. If anything, it will only compel what it ostensibly seeks to prevent," Araghchi wrote on X.

"Freedom of navigation is a basic principle of the law of the sea. When selectively applied by some, such shortsightedness usually tends to boomerang," Araghchi wrote.

Iran's economy is reeling from biting U.S. sanctions following the unilateral withdrawal of Washington in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Baghaei said the new sanctions against Iran, which "affect the interests and fundamental rights of Iranians, are clear examples of systematic violations of human rights."

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will use all of the capacities of cooperation with its partners to ensure its interests and national security," he said.