Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a series of reports on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Oded Brosh, sifting through the technical language of these documents, sees evidence that—despite apparent Israeli efforts at sabotage—the ayatollahs are moving closer to the capability to produce nuclear weapons. He points to some of the most disturbing facts:
The Fordow [nuclear] facility, which is located inside a mountain on a Revolutionary Guard military base, is continuing to produce 20-percent enriched uranium, [which is a low-level of enrichment for bomb-building, but too high for civilian use]. The accumulation of significant stocks of 20-percent enriched uranium is an ominous milestone on Iran’s path to producing highly enriched uranium for weapons.
The Fordow facility is now using prohibited types of centrifuges to engage in prohibited enrichment to prohibited levels. The fact that Fordow was allowed by the [terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement] to continue to exist rather than be closed down and dismantled is telling. It is now clear why Iran insisted on its preservation as an indispensable part of the agreement.
Another disconcerting aspect of the IAEA report is the theme of frustration, and the long list of substantive complaints, about Iran’s increasing undermining of verification, transparency, and access, and its evasiveness at providing the agency with information requested regarding suspect sites. . . . The IAEA’s verification access is so eroded that it is becoming essentially worthless.
Iran is evidently . . . moving forward toward a nuclear weapon relatively swiftly and with determination, and will continue to do so unless other events like the [mysterious explosions in] April slow it down.
Read more on BESA Center: https://besacenter.org/iaea-inspection-reports-mostly-bad-news