Iran Has 120 kg of 20%-Enriched Uranium

Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, in an image released on November 5, 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)
Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, in an image released on November 5, 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)
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Iran Has 120 kg of 20%-Enriched Uranium

Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, in an image released on November 5, 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)
Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, in an image released on November 5, 2019. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)

Iran has enriched more than 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium, the head of the country's atomic energy agency said on state television Saturday evening.

"We have passed 120 kilograms," said Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. "We have more than that figure.

"Our people know well that they (Western powers) were meant to give us the enriched fuel at 20 percent to use in the Tehran reactor, but they haven't done so," he added.

"If our colleagues do not do it, we would naturally have problems with the lack of fuel for the Tehran reactor.

In September, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had boosted its stocks enriched above the percentage allowed in the 2015 deal with world powers.

It estimated that Iran had 84.3 kilos of uranium enriched to 20 percent (up from 62.8 kilos when the IAEA last reported in May), said AFP.

Under the deal, Iran was not meant to enrich uranium above 3.67 percent, well below the 90-percent threshold needed for use in a nuclear weapon.

Under the 2015 agreement China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States had agreed to lift some sanctions against Iran if Tehran cut back its nuclear program.

But since then US president Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the deal in 2018, Tehran has progressively abandoned its commitments under the agreement, and the United States has imposed fresh sanctions in response.

On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he was optimistic that talks on reviving the 2015 deal would make progress, provided Washington fully resumed its commitments.



Russia, North Korea Foreign Ministers Meet, Pyongyang Backs Ukraine War

12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
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Russia, North Korea Foreign Ministers Meet, Pyongyang Backs Ukraine War

12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
12 July 2025, North Korea, Wonsan: Sergei Lavrov (2nd L), Foreign Minister of Russia, and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son-hui (3rd R) hold a meeting. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his North Korean counterpart in the coastal city of Wonsan on Saturday, during which Pyongyang reaffirmed its support for Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, the TASS state news agency reported.

Lavrov flew out of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday following the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, arriving the same day in Wonsan, North Korea, home to a newly opened seaside resort but also known for its missile and naval facilities, reported Reuters.

Lavrov's visit is the latest high-level meeting between the two countries as they upgrade their strategic cooperation to now include a mutual defense pact.

"We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis ... Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces," TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

The South Korean intelligence service has said North Korea may be preparing to deploy additional troops in July or August, after sending more than 10,000 soldiers to fight with Russia in the war against Ukraine.

North Korea has agreed to dispatch 6,000 military engineers and builders for reconstruction in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched a mass cross-border incursion nearly a year ago.

Russian news agencies also reported Lavrov's arrival and said after North Korea he is expected to travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, which is set to take place on Monday and Tuesday.

TASS said the new Wonsan coastal resort could boost Russian tourism to North Korea, citing the resumption of direct trains from Moscow to Pyongyang and a project to build a bridge across the Tumen River forming part of the boundary between North Korea, China and Russia.

TASS quoted Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying more high-level delegations would visit North Korea later this year.

Rudenko said the accord on strategic partnership "clearly meets the changing needs over recent decades and strengthens traditionally friendly, good-neighborly Russian-Korean relations to a qualitatively new level as allies."