Next week is also when the IAEA is expected to issue a quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear activities. OBLIGATIONUS intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons programme that it halted in 2003, which Iran denies. Identifying the material as uranium creates a burden on Iran to explain it, as enriched uranium can be used in the core of a nuclear weapon. Iran is obliged to account for all uranium so the IAEA can verify it is not diverting any to a weapons programme. But nevertheless, its presence suggests undisclosed nuclear material or activities at the sites, which Iran would have had to declare.

Source: Egypt Independent February 19, 2021 18:00 UTC