Iran has amassed enough fissile material to build two nuclear bombs, according to the United Nations atomic watchdog. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA's) last report before a Security Council vote on proposed new sanctions for Iran also detailed how its inspectors have been denied access to facilities.
It renders obsolete Iran's efforts to revive a fuel-swap deal which was aimed at delaying the moment it reaches nuclear capability.
The report said Iran has continued to evade questions over evidence of weapons work while improving its uranium enrichment capabilities.
Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium stands at two tonnes, enough to arm two nuclear warheads if enriched further. The country, which has been ordered five times by the Security Council to halt enrichment until weapons questions are addressed, defied the international community to begin enriching uranium to 20 per cent, bringing it closer to weapons-grade fuel.
It began the higher enrichment process after the collapse of an IAEA deal to ship most of its nuclear fuel stocks abroad in return for 20 per cent fuel rods. |