Iran Reiterates Uranium Metal Is for Civilian Use

A week of panicky stories surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, directed at their development of uranium metal, has Iran rethinking the information published by the IAEA, and suggesting they should avoid misunderstandings by not sharing unnecessary details.

Uranium is a metal by its very nature. Iran sought to clarify the matter today, noting that the equipment they acquired is to try to improve the fuel-making process for Tehran Research Reactor.

That’s an important point, because European nations say there is no civilian use for the metal, and yet Iran is here, very publicly pointing out that it is exactly a civilian use. Iran isn’t just coming up with that now, as the IAEA reports similarly noted this use, which the media broadly ignored for the sake of scaring people about uranium metal.

Since the IAEA knew all of this, it’s likely dawned on Iran that a lot of time could’ve been saved if the IAEA didn’t even bring this up, or did so in a way that was explicitly explanatory of why it was not a proliferation threat.