Iran’s stock of near-bomb-grade uranium grows sharply, IAEA report shows

Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, has jumped since Iran announced a dramatic acceleration in enrichment in December, a quarterly U.N. nuclear watchdog report showed on Wednesday (February 26, 2025).

The stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% in the form of uranium hexafluoride grew by 92.5 kg in the past quarter to 274.8 kg, one of two confidential International Atomic Energy Agency reports to member states seen by Reuters said.

That is enough in principle, if enriched further, for six nuclear bombs, according to an IAEA yardstick.