MESOP MIDEAST WATCH: WHILE WASHINGTON ARGUES, IRAN MAKES NUCLEAR ADVANCES

by Simon HendersonThe HillOctober 15, 2021

A closer look at the technical progress being made under the country’s new nuclear chief—and his potential links with the Pakistani scientist who first gave Tehran weaponization know-how.

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While Washington policy circles debate endlessly about Iran’s nuclear intentions and level of expertise, Tehran presses on remorselessly. On Oct. 10, Mohammad Eslami, the newly-appointed head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, announced that his country had produced more than 120 kg of 20 percent-enriched uranium, a dramatic increase from figures previously reported by the IAEA in Vienna. Lost in the reporting was the detail that this level of production is getting tantalizingly close to the magic figure of 200 kg, an amount that when further enriched to 90 percent would constitute enough to make one atomic bomb…

Simon Henderson is the Baker Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute.



THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY