BNN Bloomberg
Iran has dramatically increased its stockpile of highly-enriched nuclear fuel while continuing to stonewall international monitors, setting the stage for a new round of acrimonious diplomacy with world powers later this month.
The developments were detailed in the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report circulated among officials Wednesday. Negotiating teams return to Vienna Nov. 29 in search of a way to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran in exchange for a cap on its atomic program with positions on key issues far apart.
The forthcoming talks featured this week in a call between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, while China, Russia and Iran signaled they might potentially create a unified bloc against western nations once negotiations resume.
Iran’s store of uranium enriched to 60% levels increased 77% to 17.7 kilograms, the IAEA said. That purity of uranium is technically indistinguishable from the material needed to make nuclear weapons, with as little as 10 to 15 kilograms of the highly-enriched metal needed to manufacture a crude device. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian use but fears in the West that it could try to build a weapon drove diplomacy leading up to a 2015 accord…
