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Iran Produces Uranium Metal, IAEA Says, in Latest Breach of Deal

This photo released Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows centrifuge machines at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. (AP)
This photo released Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows centrifuge machines at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. (AP)
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Iran Produces Uranium Metal, IAEA Says, in Latest Breach of Deal

This photo released Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows centrifuge machines at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. (AP)
This photo released Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows centrifuge machines at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. (AP)

Iran has carried out its plan to produce uranium metal, the UN atomic watchdog confirmed on Wednesday, despite Western powers having warned Iran that would breach their 2015 nuclear deal as uranium metal can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.

Iran began breaching its nuclear deal with major powers step by step in 2019 in response to US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal the previous year and Washington’s reimposition of sanctions on Tehran.

Iran has in recent months accelerated those breaches of the deal’s restrictions on its atomic activities, potentially complicating efforts to bring the United States back into the deal under President Joe Biden.

A law passed in response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist in November, which Tehran blames on its foe Israel, called for steps including opening a uranium metal plant. Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency in December it planned to produce uranium metal fuel for a research reactor.

“Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi today informed IAEA Member States about recent developments regarding Iran’s R&D activities on uranium metal production as part of its stated aim to produce fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor,” the IAEA said in a statement.

Wednesday’s report, seen by Reuters, and a previous one said that Iran planned to carry out research on uranium metal using natural uranium before moving on to uranium metal enriched to 20%, the level it is enriching uranium to now, short of the 90% that is weapons grade.

“The Agency on 8 February verified 3.6 gram of uranium metal at Iran’s Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant (FPFP) in Esfahan,” the IAEA statement added.

France, Britain and Germany, all parties to the deal, last month said they were “deeply concerned” and that Iran’s uranium metal production had no civilian credibility but potentially serious military implications.

The 2015 deal’s central aim was to extend the time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb to at least a year from roughly 2-3 months. Iran, however, denies ever pursuing nuclear weapons and says it only wants to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

US intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons program that it halted in 2003.

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World

UK Fits Ship with Mine-Hunting Drones for Possible Strait of Hormuz Deployment

Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo  
Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo  
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UK Fits Ship with Mine-Hunting Drones for Possible Strait of Hormuz Deployment

Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo  
Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo  

Britain is preparing to deploy a Royal Navy evacuation vessel to the Strait of Hormuz, equipped with a fleet of autonomous drones designed for mine detection and clearance, to facilitate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Times newspaper.

Last week, the UK said the ship, which had been undergoing routine maintenance in Gibraltar, was sent to the Mediterranean where it is undertaking training drills.

Sources told The Times that Defense Secretary John Healey has reportedly authorized the development of plans for the vessel to move into the Arabian Gulf.

The ship will be retrofitted with multiple autonomous systems, including underwater drones and mine-hunting boats, which operate under a plug-and-play command and control configuration.

A defense source told The Times that “no decision” had yet been taken on deployment to the Strait of Hormuz, adding: “This preventative step gives ministers options should they be needed to help resume the normal flow of merchant shipping.”

About a fifth of global oil and LNG normally passes through the strait. On 2 March, in response to US-Israeli strikes, Iran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz. Two days later, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has asserted full, proactive control over the strait.

Lloyd's List, a maritime intelligence company, reported that since the start of the war, 16 ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding region, triggering severe maritime disruption.

US intelligence assessments indicate that at least a dozen mines, including Maham 3 and Maham 7 limpet devices, are present in the area, along with concerns over ten Ghadir-class midget submarines, which could further impede commercial navigation.

Meanwhile, the US sped up its military presence in the Middle East by the arrival of approximately 3,500 US Marines and sailors aboard the USS Tripoli, bringing transport and strike aircraft, amphibious assault assets, and tactical units, according to a statement by US Central Command. The move is part of a broader buildup in the region designed to protect navigation and secure the strait.

The closure of the narrow channel has sparked global fuel price with nearly 2,000 vessels trapped in the Arabian Gulf, according to the International Maritime Organization.

The British government is considering a scheme to help households if they are hit with soaring energy costs this winter. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said last week that the government is considering support for households to offset the increase in ‌energy costs if the conflict in the Middle East continues.

Citing ongoing talks with Iran, US President Donald Trump said last week he was delaying a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face destruction of its power plants.

He said the US and Iran have been meeting “directly and indirectly” and that Iran's new leaders have been “very reasonable.”

Trump had previously urged allies to dispatch warships to the region to aid in reopening the strait, though Western nations have thus far refrained from doing so.

The President has renewed his criticism of the UK government over its response to the Iran conflict and warned the NATO military alliance faced a “very bad” future if its members failed to help reopen the strait.

World

Trump Suggests US Could Seize Iran’s Kharg Island

FILE PHOTO: A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
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Trump Suggests US Could Seize Iran’s Kharg Island

FILE PHOTO: A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS

US President Donald Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, its main oil terminal in the Arabian Gulf.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the Financial Times in an interview Monday. “It would also mean we had to be there (on Kharg Island) for a while.”

The US president compared the potential move to Venezuela, where the US intends to control the oil industry "indefinitely" following the capture of leader Nicolas Maduro in January.

"To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: 'why are you doing that?' But they're stupid people," he told the newspaper.

Iran has threatened to mine the Arabian Gulf if its territory is invaded. The United States and Israel kept up their attacks Monday on Iran, even as there were signs of progress in nascent ceasefire talks.

Trump also said that Iran had agreed to allow 20 ships carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning and continuing over the next few days “out of a sign of respect.”

“I would only say that we’re doing extremely well in that negotiation but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up,” he said.

The war has already threatened global supplies of oil and natural gas, sparked fertilizer shortages and disrupted air travel. Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices.

According to The Washington Post, the Pentagon was preparing plans for weeks of ground operations -- potentially including raids on sites near the strait -- though Trump has yet to approve any deployment.

World

G7 Ministers Set to Tackle Financial Fallout of Mideast War

The squeeze on supply has pushed oil and gas prices ever higher, with drastic knock-on effects for supply chains in countless industries. Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
The squeeze on supply has pushed oil and gas prices ever higher, with drastic knock-on effects for supply chains in countless industries. Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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G7 Ministers Set to Tackle Financial Fallout of Mideast War

The squeeze on supply has pushed oil and gas prices ever higher, with drastic knock-on effects for supply chains in countless industries. Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
The squeeze on supply has pushed oil and gas prices ever higher, with drastic knock-on effects for supply chains in countless industries. Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Ministers from the G7 will hold talks on Monday to unpack the economic consequences of the war in the Middle East, the French government said, as oil and gas prices continue to soar.

The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February and Tehran has hit back by targeting crude-exporting countries in the region and halting shipments through the Gulf, said AFP.

The squeeze on supply has pushed oil and natural gas prices higher, with drastic knock-on effects for supply chains in countless industries.

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the G7 meeting, to be held via videoconference, would include energy and finance ministers as well as central bank chiefs and the heads of other international agencies.

"There are already differences in the responses largely linked to differences in exposure to the crisis," Lescure told a news conference on Friday, stressing that Asia was particularly exposed to the turmoil.

"That is one of the reasons why we wanted to convene a G7 of finance, energy and central banks," he said.

He added that the idea was to exchange views on the impact on financial markets and the economy, later telling local media it was the first time in half a century the G7 had used this format.

The G7, an informal grouping of the US, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, helps shape policy debates in the world's wealthiest nations.

The United States has sought support from the group to help halt Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz shipping route.

After a meeting last week, G7 foreign ministers said it was an "absolute necessity" for Iran to re-establish free passage through the strait and called for an end to attacks on civilian infrastructure.

- Governments scrambling -

Under increasing pressure, many governments have rolled out measures to limit the impact of supply difficulties and soaring energy prices.

But a lack of clarity over US war aims, along with uncertainty over the potential length of the conflict and the spread of hostilities, has left governments scrambling for coherent responses.

US officials, including President Donald Trump, have said their goals in the war are almost achieved, but thousands of US personnel have been sent to the region in an unprecedented military build-up.

Activists based outside Iran say the US-Israeli campaign has killed more than 3,000 people in the country, over half of them civilians, while Lebanese officials have said more than 1,000 have been killed there since Israel began attacking its territory in retaliation for Hezbollah attacks on March 2.

Officials in Israel and countries across the Gulf have also reported much smaller numbers of casualties.