Citing a leaked report from an unnamed IAEA member nation, it is being claimed that the Iranian government is negotiating with Kazakhstan a deal which would provide the nation with 1,300 tons of raw uranium.

UN officials suggested that the deal, worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kazakhs, would violate UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. Whether this is enough to actually stop the deal, however, remains to be seen.

Officials have speculated for awhile that Iran might be running low on raw materials for its growing uranium enrichment program. If true, the effort seems to confirm that.

Though the latest report has immediately been seized upon to enhance speculation about Iran’s civilian nuclear program, there is nothing suspicious about its attempt to acquire more uranium in and of itself. The P5+1 talks have broken down and the US is expected to push for new sanctions any day. With the prospects of a third party enrichment program all but dead, the nation will need to shore up its supply of raw material, assuming it intends to go through with plans to try to produce medical isotope grade uranium for its US built Tehran reactor.

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