(DailyAnswer.org) – As tension mounts further between Iran and the US, the International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran’s rate of production of highly enriched uranium tripled from November to December 2023. Director General of the IAEA Rafael Mariano Grossi has highlighted this increase in production in his report, having previously raised concerns in January that Iran already had enough enriched uranium to produce multiple nuclear weapons. The country still maintains that it is not seeking to build weapons and that it is only processing enriched uranium for peaceful purposes.
A U.S. State Department spokesman highlighted Iran’s alleged links to destabilizing activities in the region such as a drone attack on the US military in Iraq, as well as attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and a drone strike on a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean which the US has attributed to Iran. President Joe Biden ordered retaliatory strikes in response to the drone attack in Iraq. The spokesman shared the Biden administration’s deep concerns about the report, arguing that the country should not be allowed to enrich uranium to 60 percent. Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s energy chief, dismissed concerns about the increased enrichment at Natanz and Fordow, arguing that it was nothing out of the ordinary and that they are following rules.
Iran’s nuclear capabilities raise concerns as conflict escalates in the Middle East. The country has a history of strong opposition to Zionism; in 2020 Ayatollah Khomeini declared Zionism a “virus”, claiming that it would be uprooted from the region in the near future. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani attacked US officials, including President Biden, for suggesting the country had any involvement in the October 7th attack.
Iran’s official message to Hamas upon meeting in November stated that they had been given no warning of the October 7th attack and that beyond political and moral support the regime in Gaza could expect no intervention from Iran. The Guardian has argued, however, that it is not in the interests of Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran to escalate war in the Middle East out of fear of US intervention, and that neither militant group would do so without Iran’s backing. Iranian ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani referred to Israel as a burden on the US and its global reputation, dismissing the calls of Israeli officials for a nuclear-free Iran.
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