US blasts Iran's nuclear advance as existential threat to world

"Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U‑235 has increased to 275 kg, up from 182 kg in the past quarter," IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in his statement to the agency’s Board of Governors on Monday.

"Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon State enriching to this level, causing me serious concern," Grossi added.

The IAEA has argued in the past that there is no credible civilian use for uranium enriched to 60%, which is a short step from weapons-grade 90% enriched fissile material.

US President Donald Trump has demanded Iran end all programs that can enable it to produce nuclear weapons as a pre-condition for an agreement that would lift economic sanctions.

"It is also four years since the Agency was able to conduct complementary access in Iran," Grossi added in his statement.

He said Iran claims it has declared all of its nuclear material and activities, but "this statement is inconsistent with the Agency’s findings of uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at undeclared locations in Iran."

The IAEA still does not know "the current location(s) of the nuclear material and/or of contaminated equipment involved," said the head of the UN nuclear watchdog.

Grossi also pointed to an unexplained issue with Iran’s past uranium metal production. "There is also a discrepancy in the material balance of uranium involved in uranium metal production experiments conducted at Jaber Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratory, for which Iran has not accounted," he said.

He said Iran is not following "modified Code 3.1, which is a legal obligation," and warned that the "outstanding safeguards issues remain unresolved." He added, "They stem from Iran’s obligations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and need to be resolved for the Agency to be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful."

Grossi said Iran had indicated it would consider accepting four additional IAEA inspectors but ultimately did not approve them. "I deeply regret that Iran did not accept their designation," he said.

"There has been no significant progress towards implementing the Joint Statement of 4 March 2023," Grossi said, urging Iran to engage with the IAEA. He said he will submit a "comprehensive and updated assessment on the presence and use of undeclared nuclear material" as requested by the IAEA Board in November 2024.

Grossi said his talks with Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, showed that "there may be room for constructive compromises." He added, "I hope to see them again soon and pursue effective dialogue and tangible results."

At a press conference in Vienna on Monday after the IAEA Board of Governors meeting Grossi stressed the need for Iran to provide answers. "What we need is real answers (from Iran). What we need is an engagement that is moving forward. We need to stop talking about process and start getting some answers as soon as possible," he said when asked what the agency expects from Iran.

Addressing broader diplomatic efforts, Grossi said, "An important statement by President Trump was when he said that he wants to have some form of a deal, some form of an agreement (with Iran)," Grossi said. "We need to engage as soon as possible, because time is passing."

“Right now we’re at a pivotal moment because Iran is racing forward in the nuclear program,” Leiter said in an interview with Fox News, pointing to the upcoming March 3 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“They’re supposed to produce a report on Iranian progress, but they won’t be able to because Iran doesn’t really cooperate with the IAEA.”

In 2023, Iran banned around one third of the IAEA's inspectors and the IAEA's chief, Rafael Grossi, said last month, “Iran is not still cooperating as we would like them to do.”

Leiter accused Iran’s leadership of lying about its nuclear ambitions and dismissed diplomatic efforts. “These people are liars. They’re charming liars. But they lie,” he said.

He added that Iran has openly declared its intention to destroy Israel and warned that its missile attacks on Israeli cities were part of a broader campaign against the West.

“They call us the little Satan. The United States is the big Satan. And they’re coming for Western civilization as a whole," he said.

He dismissed efforts to negotiate with Iran, saying, “You can’t talk Iran out of this.” He contrasted the Trump administration’s approach with prior US policies, praising former President Donald Trump for withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal.

“There’s real clarity on the Iranian situation within the Trump administration,” he said, emphasizing strong coordination between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Leiter's remarks come amid growing concerns over Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

Last Wednesday, the IAEA found that Iran's stock of near-bomb-grade uranium has risen to levels which in principle could be refined further into the equivalent of six nuclear bombs, according to a Reuters report citing confidential IAEA files.

The diversity of views suggests the ruling establishment has yet to either decisively welcome or reject US President Donald Trump's overture for diplomacy.

Iranian media quoted Kamal Kharrazi, chairman of the Strategic Council of Foreign Relations that advises Ayatollah Khamenei, as saying to Iraq's al-Yum newspaper that "US and Israel's pressure will not stop Iran's nuclear program" and ruled out negotiations with Washington "as long as America's unilateralism" continues.

At the congress of the Reformist Mardom Salari Party on the same day, Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi criticized the government's and parliament’s decision-making, saying it has not solved any problem. He urged Tehran to "avoid challenging regional and global powers, as this can be costly for Iran."

He explained that "Trump has questioned all the democratic standards of the West and we need to run the country's affairs in this situation."

Meanwhile, he warned Iran's hardliners against challenging President Masoud Pezeshkian, cautioning that "if he is undermined, there will be no one left to address the country's problems."

In a separate development on the same day, prominent Reformist Behzad Nabavi cautioned the government that "Iran's economic situation is dire, and the country cannot afford to delay negotiations with the United States for another four years" until Trump leaves the White House.

However, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), Nabavi acknowledged that while Iran's economic crisis requires urgent action, Tehran cannot rush into negotiations with Trump.

He proposed that Iran should first engage in talks with Europe to gradually ease the sanctions that have devastated the economy. "At the same time, we need to reach a cease-fire with the United States," ILNA quoted him as saying. However, he did not specify what Europe could offer Iran or how Tehran could persuade Trump to wait until it is ready for negotiations.

President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran in February, demanding a deal that would permanently prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

However, Nabavi noted that a short-term solution for Iran's problems requires lifting the sanctions, but if that is not possible Tehran should resort to rationing foodstuff and essential commodities to limit the impact of sanctions.

As Iran’s currency has fallen by around 50% since September, prices of essential necessities have skyrocketed in recent weeks and more inflation is expected in the coming months. The overall consensus in the Iranian media is that the country faces harsh challenges and the government seems unable to find more money to finance imports.

In a related development, conservative daily Jomhouri Eslami cautioned Iranian officials against trusting Russia.

Following Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Tehran, the newspaper warned, "We cannot make yet another mistake. Do not trust Russia!"

The daily argued that it would be a mistake for Iran's foreign ministry to trust a foreign power that "has proven unreliable" in past experiences, including during nuclear negotiations, the Ukraine war, Syria before Assad's fall, and disputes over Iran's ownership of three Persian Gulf islands.

Jomhouri Eslami suggested that contrary to official statements, Lavrov's visit was linked to a major deal between the United States and Russia and could impact the future of Iran-US relations.

The editorial also criticized Iran's state-run news agencies for their "misleading reporting practices," accusing them of focusing on irrelevant details rather than the substantive outcomes of talks with foreign officials. It warned that this approach "erodes public trust in Iranian media" and drives audiences to seek news about Iran from foreign outlets, calling this shift "a significant loss."

While the Trump administration has promised "maximum pressure" on Iran, saying the Islamic Republic cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons, 72% of the Democrat voters and 82% of Republicans opted in the poll "to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons facilities."

The poll’s wording assumed that Iran possesses nuclear weapons and did not specify which of Iran’s nuclear facilities are being used for weapons production.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and the United States last publicly assessed that Tehran's enrichment levels aimed to give it the ability to rapidly build a bomb but it had not yet chosen to do so.

When asked if the US should support Israel in airstrikes these facilities, 57% overall said yes, 45% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans.

The IAEA has not confirmed that Iran's current nuclear program has a military aspect. However, it has previously raised concerns about Iran’s pre-2003 nuclear weapons activities and more recent tensions over uranium enrichment approaching weapons-grade levels.

Despite concerns over undeclared nuclear materials and Iran’s lack of full cooperation, no official UN or IAEA report states that Iran is actively developing a nuclear weapon today.

The February survey was carried out on 2,443 registered voters, the results gauging public opinion, with an overwhelming majority showing a massive approval rating for the second term of President Donald Trump.

While Trump has promised a policy of ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran, he has also made clear his preference for diplomatic channels over military.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday: ”Iran's position in the nuclear talks is completely clear, and we will not negotiate under pressure and sanctions.

"There is no possibility of direct negotiations between us and the US as long as maximum pressure is being applied in this manner.”

In 2018, during his first term, Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, and imposed 'maximum pressure' sanctions on Tehran, practically reducing Iran’s oil exports to less than 500,000 barrels per day and blocking the revenues in foreign banks.

Last month, Trump said he hoped a new deal over Iran's nuclear program meant the United States would not have to support an Israeli attack on Iran.

"It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step ... Iran hopefully will make a deal, and if they don't make a deal, I guess that's okay too,” he said during a press conference at the Oval.

However, this week, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar has warned that a military option to stop Iran gaining nuclear weapons may be the only way forward.

Speaking to POLITICO, he said “we don't have much time". Only last year, the UN’s nuclear chief, Rafael Grossi, warned that Iran was “weeks not months” from a nuclear weapon.

"I think that in order to stop a nuclear Iranian program before it will be weaponized, a reliable military option should be on the table," Sa’ar said, as Iran has already enriched enough uranium for what he said was “a couple of bombs”.

Iran's stock of uranium enriched to near weapons grade has grown sharply even after a previous rise Tehran announced in December, two confidential reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency cited by the news agency found.

No progress has been made toward resolving the disputed program, the reports added, according to Reuters.

"The significantly increased production and accumulation of high enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern," the IAEA said in both reports.

Iran's has enriched of uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, closer to the 90% needed for a bomb. Tehran denies seeking a bomb but the United States, Israel and Western powers doubt its intentions.

Iran's uranium stock refined to up to 60% grew by 92.5 kilograms (kg) in the past quarter to 274.8 kg, one of the IAEA reports said. According to an IAEA yardstick, the amount is enough in principle for six nuclear bombs if enriched further.

"Iran states that it has declared all of the nuclear material, activities and locations required under its Safeguards Agreement. This is inconsistent with the Agency's assessments of the unexplained nuclear-related activities that took place at all four of the undeclared locations in Iran referred to above," one of the reports said.

The IAEA has for years been seeking explanations from Tehran about uranium traces at nuclear sites and other issues.

'The matter is political"

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran dismissed public concerns raised by IAEA over its nuclear program, with the country's nuclear chief accusing the agency of politicizing technical matters.

"The agency has received the answers to the safeguards questions, but there is a political will not to accept them," said Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.

"When the Director General of the Agency says that Iran should resolve its issues with Trump, it means the matter is political, not technical."

Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Eslami described Iran’s nuclear facilities as resilient against external threats.

"Threats to the country's nuclear industry have always existed," he told reporters. "Today and tomorrow, a nuclear defense exercise will be held at nuclear facilities. Iran is more resilient than the enemy imagines, and our infrastructure is not vulnerable."

Iran’s nuclear program remains a focal point of international tensions, particularly following Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the imposition of economic sanctions.

While Tehran has reduced IAEA inspections since 2021, it continues to argue that its nuclear activities are peaceful. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi recently said the UN body was willing to assist Iran in proving it was not seeking nuclear weapons.

"We want to make ourselves available, providing technically sound alternatives to eliminate the possibility that Iran develops a nuclear weapon, to prevent Iran, or to help Iran prove that they don't want to develop a nuclear weapon," Grossi told reporters in Tokyo.

The United States, meanwhile, has reinstated its "maximum pressure" policy on Iran, with President Donald Trump insisting that Tehran must never acquire nuclear weapons.