President Joe Biden is reportedly pushing America’s allies in Europe to back off pressuring Iran over its illegal nuclear activities as the country continues to rapidly expand its stockpile of near-weapons grade nuclear fuel.
The administration is specifically trying to stop Britain and France from censuring the Islamic Republic at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) member-state board next month, The Wall Street Journal reported, according with various diplomats whom it spoke to.
The report said that the administration has also “pressed a number of other countries to abstain in a censure vote” against Iran, which is what the administration will do.
“European diplomats have warned that failure to take action would undermine the authority of the IAEA, which polices nonproliferation of nuclear weapons,” the report said. “They say it also weakens the credibility of Western pressure on Iran. And they are frustrated over what they see as U.S. efforts to undermine their approach.”
The administration claimed that it was “increasing pressure on Iran through sanctions and international isolation,” even though it has relaxed sanctions enforcement on the country, which has allowed them to make tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue.
“Iran’s level of cooperation with the agency remains unacceptable,” said Laura Holgate, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA. “The board must be prepared to take further action should Iran’s cooperation not improve dramatically.”
The news comes as Iran has increased its stockpile of near weapons-grade enriched uranium, according to a report from the IAEA, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
The report, seen by the Associated Press, says that the country has increased its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium from 121.5 kilograms to 142.1 kilograms in just the last few months.
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) notes that 99% of the effort required to build weapons-grade uranium happens in the phase of enriching it to 60%. The last phase, boosting it to weapons-grade enrichment levels of 90%+, makes up “the last 1% of the effort needed to produce the fuel for a nuclear weapon.” This period, known as “breakout time,” only takes 7 days.
The news comes as Iran started enriching uranium to 20% and 60% and started stockpiling both after the November 2020 elections.
Under President Joe Biden — who has relaxed sanctions enforcement against the country that has resulted in tens of billions of dollars flowing to the country, which is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism — Iran has amassed unprecedented levels of enriched uranium in violation of international law.
“IAEA’s latest reporting shows Iran is steadily increasing its proximity to nuclear weapons. The Biden admin. naively believes Tehran is undertaking restraint via indirect talks and U.S. sanctions relief,” said Andrea Stricker, Deputy Director & Research Fellow of FDD’s Nonproliferation & Biodefense program.
“Yet the regime is taking a ‘boiling the frog’ approach to nuclear breakout,” she added. “By the time Washington realizes it, the frog will be cooked and the regime will have a nuclear deterrent.”
Stricker told The Daily Wire that as of February, Iran had enough enriched uranium to produce 13 weapons after the uranium is enriched to 90%. The regime could produce nearly four weapons right now using just its stock of 60% enriched uranium.
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