Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf reported Thursday on state TV that the nation’s enrichment of 20% enriched uranium is well ahead of schedule, and that they have produced some 17 kg so far.
That’s a surprising lot, as they’ve been at it for less than a month. Iran’s Atomic agency originally predicted 120 kg of production per year, so only 10 kg per month. Clearly they’re well ahead of that already.
20% is the highest level of enrichment Iran has ever produced to, and the uranium will be converted to fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor. Weapons grade would need a minimum 90% enrichment, a process Iran has never attempted.
While some hawks argue that 20% is dangerously close to 90%, it’s not clear it’s that easy to get over that hump, let alone to convert the material into a deliverable weapon. Iran has ruled out making nuclear arms on a religious basis, and commits to purely civilian use.
40lb per month, that’s enough a rate to produce enough raw material for 5 bombs per year that they would then have to enrich to 90%.
So let me get this straight, Israel will attack Iran if the U.S. re-enters an agreement where Iran stops this and reduces their total inventory 20lb for medical research. Israel wants to keep this status quo where Iran keeps producing this level of enriched uranium. That’s not too psychotic.