Iran claims to have nearly doubled enriched uranium stockpile ahead of new talks

Iran claims it has nearly doubled its stockpile of enriched uranium ahead of the resumption of talks to restart the Iran nuclear deal. 

“We have more than 210 kilograms [about 463 pounds] of uranium enriched to 20%, and we’ve produced 25 kilos [about 55 pounds] at 60%, a level that no country apart from those with nuclear arms are able to produce,” Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said Wednesday, state news agency IRNA reported, according to CBS News. 

AEOI head Mohammad Eslam said in October that Iran had produced 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium, CBS News reported.

The announcement of the increase in uranium comes as Iran has agreed to resume talks on Nov. 29 in Vienna to restart the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly called the Iran nuclear deal.

The U.S. pulled out of the JCPOA under former President Trump and issued multiple sanctions against the country.

In response, Iran began breaking the conditions of the JCPOA and increased its nuclear activity. 

Iran is looking at getting sanctions lifted that they have denounced as “unlawful & inhumane.”

The U.S. will be participating in the nuclear talks on Nov. 29 after they sat out of the previous six discussions in the spring surrounding the deal, only communicating indirectly in the talks.