Watchdog: Iran on brink of nuclear weapon; old deal is pointless

Iran ‘has uranium at 60% — 90% is military grade — and is thus practically at the same level as nuclear-armed states,’ says head of nuclear watchdog group.

By World Israel News Staff

The head of a nuclear watchdog group warned on Monday that Iran is on the verge of becoming a nuclear state, meaning that reinstating the 2015 nuclear deal is no longer a relevant starting point for negotiations with Tehran.

In recent days, the United Nations’ head of political affairs called for a revival of the plan, urging signatories – including the U.S. and the European Union – to “re-engage” with Iran.

However, Raphael Grossi, chair of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that Iran’s nuclear program had progressed significantly in recent years, including enriching uranium up to levels nearing wepaons-grade.

Due to the fact that Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities are far greater than they were at the time the original deal was drafted, the 2015 “agreement is no longer useful,” Grossi told Italian news agency ANSA on Monday.

Iran “has uranium at 60% — 90% is military grade — and is thus practically at the same level as nuclear-armed states,” he added.

“We must reformulate the agreement,” Grossi said. “This is a complex process whereby the European countries and the U.S., Russia, and China will have to sit at the table with [the IAEA] to define a system that serves the new Iranian reality.”

In October 2024, Israel reportedly destroyed a secret nuclear weapons testing facility south of Tehran.

“The strike was a not so subtle message that the Israelis have significant insight into the Iranian system even when it comes to things that were kept top secret and known to a very small group of people in the Iranian government,” a Biden administration official told Axios.

After the strikes, which also targeted Iran’s ballistic missile and drone manufacturing factories, along with its air defenses, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Iran is “more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities.”

He added that “we have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal—to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel.”