According to the latest data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Iranian regime is expanding its uranium production and has declared that its reserves of this metal are much larger than previously estimated.
The new statistics, published on Tuesday, April 8, in the “Red Book”—the IAEA’s biennial report on the uranium industry—may raise concerns about the direction of the regime’s nuclear program.
The report states that since 2022, the Iranian regime has been drilling at least 12 new uranium mines, although these resources are not considered economically viable and are far below the amount required to fuel a nuclear reactor.
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The authors of the report, who are based in the IAEA offices in Vienna and Paris, wrote that Tehran has demonstrated that Iran’s uranium reserves are significantly greater than previously estimated. The country may nearly quadruple its uranium ore production to 71 tons this year.
Unlike other segments of the nuclear fuel cycle—a complex industrial process that converts uranium isotopes into energy fuel—upstream mining activities are not regularly audited. IAEA inspectors track enriched uranium worldwide because it can be used for weapons production, but uranium ore can be extracted and traded under fewer restrictions and regulations.
In 2015, global powers reached an agreement with the Iranian regime, known as the JCPOA, which imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions. In May 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal and reimposed strict sanctions on Iran’s regime.
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The IAEA has confirmed that the Iranian regime has increased its enriched uranium production rate sevenfold. Since returning to the presidency, Trump has stated his desire for a new nuclear deal with Iran and has threatened military action if Tehran refuses to enter direct negotiations.
On Monday, April 7, Iranian officials announced their readiness to negotiate with the United States, provided the talks are mediated by Oman.
Nonetheless, Iran’s uranium mining activities have drawn the attention of security analysts, who say the reserves are insufficient for fueling a nuclear reactor, but would be sufficient to produce a nuclear bomb.
Iran’s nuclear reactor at the Bushehr power plant requires approximately 160 tons (more precisely, 145.15 tons) of uranium ore annually, but the regime extracts only 21 tons per year. Russia, which built the Bushehr plant, also supplies its fuel.
According to IAEA data, Iranian engineers are now producing the equivalent of one nuclear bomb’s worth of 60-percent enriched uranium per month. In a report released in February, the agency stated that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had increased by 50 percent over the past three months, reaching 275 kilograms.
