Iran has dramatically increased its stockpile of enriched uranium in recent months following President Donald Trump’s election victory, according to a confidential report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Islamic regime has increased its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium — which is near the weapons-grade threshold of 90% — from 182 kilograms in late October to 275 kilograms as of early February, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The surge in production of enriched uranium represents a 51%+ increase in just a little over three months.
Iran can further enrich that uranium to the 90% threshold needed to create a nuclear weapon in just a matter of days if it seeks to break out and build a nuclear weapon. With the amount of nuclear material the regime has, it could build at least six nuclear weapons.
Andrea Stricker, Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program Deputy Director and Research Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), told The Daily Wire that the Trump administration should “seek a resolution penalizing Iran’s nuclear advances and continued violations of its safeguards obligations at next week’s IAEA Board of Governors meeting.”
“Such a resolution must provide a deadline for Tehran’s compliance and note that the United States and its allies will refer Iran’s case to the UN Security Council for the re-imposition of suspended UN sanctions, or ‘snapback,’ prior to the October expiration of the snapback mechanism and sunset of all prior UN Iran resolutions,” Stricker said.
Stricker added: “If the Trump administration chooses to negotiate with the regime in Tehran, any deal that does not dismantle and disarm Iran’s enrichment, weaponization, and missile-delivery programs will not be worth the paper it is written on.”
The Telegraph reported on Tuesday that multiple high-level government sources confirmed to the publication that Iran has changed the preparedness level for its defense systems in response to fears that an attack is imminent.
The Islamic regime, which is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, is increasing its defenses around the nuclear facilities, including the deployment of anti-aircraft launchers.
“They [Iranian authorities] are just waiting for the attack and are anticipating it every night and everything has been on high alert – even in sites that no one knows about,” one source told The Telegraph. “Work to fortify nuclear sites has been ongoing for years but it has intensified over the past year, particularly since Israel launched the first attack.”
Trump’s victory in November has only “further intensified the activities,” the source added.
The Iranian official who spoke to The Telegraph said there are serious fears in the country now that the United States could join Israel’s likely forthcoming strike, thus making it much larger and putting “the Islamic Republic’s existence in danger.”
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that analysis from both the Biden and Trump administrations has concluded that Israel is likely to carry out a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities this year as it looks to take maximal advantage of Iran’s weakened state.
Officials familiar with the report said that it indicated Israel believes President Donald Trump is far more likely to support its decision to take out the nuclear sites than former President Joe Biden.
The United States military believes that it would need to supply specific munitions for the strike, given that one of the facilities is buried under a mountain and the United States is the only country in the world that has powerful enough bunker-buster bombs to reach it.