The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Monday that Iran's recent nuclear activity "raises eyebrows," adding that Tehran could produce a nuclear bomb within weeks.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi made the comments during an interview with German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) in which he discussed Iran's enriched uranium levels.
The IAEA previously said in a December report that Iran had tripled its uranium enrichment level to 60 percent. The agency noted that the level was not far away from the weapons-grade threshold of 90 percent.
Grossi's latest warning comes as tensions between Iran and Israel remain high after Tehran responded to an alleged Israeli strike on an Iranian embassy in Syria by launching drones and missiles against Israel on April 13 in an attack that was mostly thwarted.
"I have been telling my Iranian counterparts time and again...this [nuclear] activity raises eyebrows and compounded with the fact that we are not getting the necessary degree of access and visibility that I believe should be necessary," Grossi told DW.
He added, "When you put all of that together, then, of course, you end up with lots of question marks."
Newsweek reached out to Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email on Wednesday for comment.
Iran has long maintained that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its program is only for peaceful purposes. But Grossi said in January 2023 that Tehran had enough enriched uranium to build "several" nuclear weapons.
A Department of State spokesperson previously told Newsweek that the Biden administration was "greatly concerned" by the IAEA's December report.
"Iran has no credible civilian justification for enrichment up to 60 percent," the spokesperson said. "Iran's nuclear escalation is all the more concerning at a time when Iran as well as Iran-backed militant groups and Iran's proxies continue their dangerous and destabilizing activities in the region."
Grossi told DW that Iran is now "weeks rather than months" away from having enough enriched uranium to develop a nuclear bomb. But, he added, "that does not mean that Iran has or would have a nuclear weapon in that space of time."
He went on to list some findings he said were made by the IAEA regarding Iran, such as traces of enriched uranium at places "that were not supposed to be nuclear sites."
"This has been at the center of this dialogue that I have been and I am still trying to conduct with Iran," Grossi said.
Despite his concerns, Grossi said he is traveling to Tehran soon, where he hopes to engage in further dialogue over issues that concern the IAEA.
"I will be there to try to put these things back on track if they want to be believed," he said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
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