By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VIENNA (Worthy News) – The United States demanded Wednesday that Iran is diluting all of its enriched uranium to up to “60 percent purity” after warnings from United Nations experts that the Islamic Republic could enrich towards having nuclear weapons.
The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) acknowledged in a confidential report to member states that Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent fell slightly in the past quarter. Tehran, it added, had diluted, or “downblended,” more of its most highly enriched material than it had produced.
However, the IAEA warned that Iran still has enough of that material, if enriched further, to fuel two powerful nuclear weapons and enough for more bombs at lower enrichment levels.
The report prompted the U.S. to say that “Iran should downblend all, not just some, of its 60 percent stockpile, and stop all production of uranium enriched to 60 percent entirely,” the United States stressed.
Even the demanded of 60 percent is close to the 90 percent weapons-grade level, experts say.
The U.S. statement on Iran was given to a quarterly meeting of the 35-nation IAEA Board of Governors.
It was not immediately clear why Iran downblended the material, though Tehran has come under mounting international pressure to halt or at least reduce its nuclear program.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS DENIAL
Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says it has the right to enrich to high levels for civil, peaceful purposes.
However, Western powers say there is no credible civil justification for enriching to such high levels. “We continue to have serious concerns related to the stockpile of highly enriched uranium that Iran continues to maintain,” the U.S. stressed.
“No other country today is producing uranium enriched to 60 percent for the purpose Iran claims, and Iran’s actions are counter to the behavior of all other non-nuclear weapons states party to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty),” Washington added.
The United States also condemned the barring of some of the IAEA’s most experienced and expert inspectors last year, among other moves that the IAEA has also criticized.
There is concern that Iran’s nuclear program could add to tensions in the Middle East, where Israel has said it won’t allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran also supports several groups seeking the destruction of the Jewish nation.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire that was to begin Friday afternoon, Worthy News learned.
At least 10 people, including four children, were injured in a Russian strike on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian authorities said Friday. In southern Ukraine, the State Emergency Service reported that one person was killed and four others were injured in a separate Russian attack on the Odesa region.
President Donald Trump signed the temporary peace deal with Iran ahead of schedule Wednesday at the Palace of Versailles in France, kicking off negotiations over a final nuclear deal.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s statement following the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United States is being viewed by analysts not as an embrace of peace, but as a carefully crafted declaration that preserves Tehran’s revolutionary posture while allowing the regime to regroup.
The United States imposed new sanctions Thursday on individuals and entities linked to Hezbollah, accusing them of using political and financial influence to obstruct Lebanon’s peace process and delay the Iran-backed group’s disarmament.
Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow since the war began, hitting a key oil refinery and other targets around the Russian capital, leaving at least one person dead and numerous others injured, Russian officials said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Southeast Asian leaders in Kazan this week as Moscow moved to deepen ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and promote its vision of a “multipolar world order” aimed at countering U.S. global dominance.