The United Nations atomic watchdog on Wednesday sounded the alarm that Iran has hit the ‘gas pedal’ on its nuclear development and urged diplomacy just two days after President Donald Trump re-entered the White House.
The Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told world leaders at the Davos World Economic Forum that Iran has roughly enough uranium, if enriched further, to develop nearly five nuclear weapons.
Rafael Grossi warned that Iran currently possesses roughly 440 pounds of near-weapons grade uranium that has been enriched to the 60% purity threshold, shy of the 90% purity levels needed to develop a nuclear bomb. Roughly 92 pounds of weapons-grade uranium is enough to create one nuclear bomb, reported Reuters.
‘One can gather from the first statements from President Trump and some others in the new administration that there is a disposition, so to speak, to have a conversation and perhaps move into some form of an agreement,’ Grossi said.
Conservative allies of Trump have called on the president to continue with his maximum pressure campaign that was implemented against Iran during his first presidency. Mark Levin, host of Fox News show ‘Life, Liberty & Levin,’ on Tuesday urged the president to ‘not appease’ Tehran when it comes to its nuclear deal.
‘Do not embrace the discredited ‘diplomatic solutions’ of the Biden and Obama regimes and think deals can be made with mass murdering terrorists,’ Levin said in a post on X. ‘You do not negotiate with genocidal maniacs, pure and simple.
‘Do not appease, as their bloodthirsty ideology cannot be appeased only destroyed,’ he warned.
According to the Grossi, Iran has increased its production of uranium enriched to 60% purity levels from an average of 15 pounds each month to more than 65 pounds.
‘I think this is a clear indication of an acceleration. They are pressing the gas pedal,’ Grossi told reporters, according to Reuters.
The IAEA chief said that while it will take time for Iran to develop the extra centrifuges needed to create more enriched uranium, he believes the international community can expect ‘to start seeing steady increases from now.’
It is unclear what comments issued by the new Trump administration led Grossi to believe that it might be open to diplomacy given Trump’s repeated commitments to hit Iran with stiff sanctions in a move to end Tehran’s support of state-sponsored terrorism and counter its nuclear program.
Republicans have ardently objected to diplomatic efforts in the past, and Trump, in 2018, pulled the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an international deal that looked to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
Reports this week claimed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had prohibited the development of a nuclear weapon in an apparent olive branch to Trump, though Fox News Digital could not independently confirm this. This alleged ban also would not necessarily prohibit Tehran from developing its nuclear program.
Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the White House to confirm whether Trump plans to pursue any diplomatic efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear program.