Explainer-The status of Iran's uranium enrichment programme

US Vice President JD Vance has stated that Iran must make a "meaningful" reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands. The current status of Iran's uranium enrichment programme is as follows: prior to a US-Israeli bombing campaign, Iran had three operating uranium-enrichment facilities, which were destroyed or badly damaged in a 12-day campaign.

At the time of the bombing, Iran was enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA estimated that Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60%, which, if enriched further, could be enough for 10 nuclear weapons, based on an IAEA yardstick. The UN nuclear watchdog also stated that it had no credible indication of a coordinated weapons programme.

The US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities on June 13 of last year, arguing that Iran was getting too close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon. The IAEA had access to all of Iran's declared nuclear sites, including its enrichment plants, until the US-Israeli bombing campaign.

Brief written by urgent.news from Al-Monitor, The Korea Times, Investing.com — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.