Colin Kahl, US Under Secretary of Defense for Political Affairs, made the comment in a House of Representatives session after a Republican deputy pressed him to find out why President Joe Biden’s administration was seeking to revive the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“Because Iran’s nuclear progress since we pulled out of the JCPOA has been remarkable,” Kahl, the third-ranking Pentagon official, told lawmakers. “Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to pull out of the deal, it should have taken Iran about 12 months.” To produce enough fissile material for one bomb. Now it would take about 12 days.”
“So I think there is still a view that if you can solve this problem diplomatically and bring back restrictions on their nuclear program, that’s better than other options. But right now, the JCPOA is frozen,” he added.
The Biden administration has been seeking to revive the agreement for two years, but to no avail.
Iran’s stockpile of uranium
- The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed, on Tuesday, that Iran has continued in recent months to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium.
- According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, seen by Agence France-Presse, that stocks rose by February 12 to 3,760.8 kilograms, compared to 3,673.7 kilograms in October.
- This means that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has increased by an estimated 87.1 kilograms since the last quarterly report.
- Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium exceeds 18 times the allowable ceiling.
- The IAEA indicated that it had detected enriched particles in Iran at a rate of just under 90 percent.
- The report stated: “Iran has informed the Agency that unintended fluctuations in enrichment levels may have occurred during the transition period at the time of the start of the enrichment process to a purity of 60 percent in (November 2022) or during the replacement of the feed cylinder.”
- The IAEA report continued: “Iran continues to violate restrictions on its nuclear activities under the 2015 nuclear deal.”
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is expected to visit Tehran at the end of the week.
It is noteworthy that this report comes a few days before a meeting of the Board of Governors of the United Nations agency.
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