Iran has produced a mate- rial that is banned under the 2015 nuclear accords and could be used to form the core of a maclear weapon, as it seeks to step up pressure on the Biden administration to lift economic sanctions on Tehran.
A confidential report by the United Nations atomic sgeney, seen by The Wall Street Jour- mal, said Iran had started pro- ducing uranium metal on Feb. 6 at a nuclear facility in Is- fahan that is under the agency’s inspection.
The material produced was a small amount of natural ura- mium metal, the International Atomic Energy Agency re- ported, meaning it wasn’t en- riched. To use uranium metal for a moclear weapon core, Iran would need slightly more than a pound of highly enriched uranium metal, experts said.
The Iranian government in December warned that it would start producing ura- mium metal within months, following a law passed in Iran’s Parliament on Dec. 1, a threat that alarmed Western diplomats. Iran has taken a series of recent steps in violation of the 2015 nuclear accord, from which the Trump administra- tion withdrew.
Tehran has in- creased its production of nu- clear fuel, carried enrichment in locations it isn’t supposed to wse and eartier this year produced 20% en- riched uranium, the highest five out.
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