Iran Frustrates Nuclear Monitors as Its Uranium Stockpile Grows

(Bloomberg) -- Iran is frustrating international efforts to examine its nuclear program as it speeds up its production of uranium enriched close to the level needed for weapons.

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International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors figure Iran now has sufficient quantities of highly-enriched uranium to build several atomic warheads, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told Bloomberg News Thursday in an interview in Davos, Switzerland.

“It is a very frustrating cycle,” Grossi said. “We don’t understand why they don’t provide the necessary transparency.”

While inspectors haven’t detected diversion of Iran’s uranium inventory for weapons, the manufacture and storage of so much material is raising concern. Iran tripled its rate of uranium enrichment in December, rolling back measures which had been implemented amid backchannel diplomacy with the US.

The IAEA delivered its latest Iran comments as regional tensions spike. Iran launched missiles against purported militant sites in Iraq and Pakistan this week. Meanwhile, Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen were designated as terrorists by the US as it attempts to ensure safe passage through the Red Sea.

--With assistance from Francine Lacqua.

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