US, European Allies Jointly Urge Iran To Halt Nuclear Ambitions

In a statement released Thursday evening, the governments of the US, France, Germany, and the UK jointly condemned Iran, urging the country’s leadership to abandon its nuclear ambitions. This joint rebuke follows a recently published report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicating an acceleration in the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program.

The IAEA’s findings reveal that Iran has expanded its production of 60% enriched uranium at the Natanz and Fordow nuclear plants. At the current rate of 20 kilograms a month, Iran’s supply of highly potent uranium is set to triple.

While most uranium used in nuclear warheads is enriched up to 90%, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, uranium at 20% enrichment already entails most of the energy and effort needed to create weapons-grade nuclear fissile material. In essence, 60% enrichment is already dangerous, with no civilian use requiring or justifying uranium enriched to such a degree.

In January 2023, the Iranian government failed to notify the IAEA of alterations to the “cascade configuration” of its enrichment program. Changes or advancements in cascade configuration, involving an increase in the number of centrifuges in the enrichment process, are necessary to make uranium-235 potent enough for use in a nuclear armament. IAEA inspectors assert that Iran has now reverted to the configuration discovered in January.

The statement notes that Iran’s unwillingness to abide by these provisions shows “a lack of good will towards de-escalation” and demonstrates “reckless behavior in a tense regional context.”

“We urge Iran to immediately reverse these steps and de-escalate its nuclear program. Iran must fully cooperate with the IAEA to enable it to provide assurances that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful and to redesignate the inspectors suspended in September 2023,” the statement adds.

The Islamic Republic’s longstanding pursuit of a nuclear weapon has become increasingly overt in recent years. After the Trump Administration unilaterally pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, the Iranian government suspended its compliance with certain limits. The JCPOA, negotiated by the Obama White House and signed by the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, and the US), the European Union, and Iran, was a framework that provided Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for the country’s complete abandonment of its nuclear weapons program, along with regular, transparent inspections of its current nuclear facilities conducted by IAEA staff.