A handout photo made available by the Iran Atomic Energy Organization reportedly shows inside Iran's Fordow nuclear facility. The United Nations nuclear agency on Tuesday said that Iran has enough enriched uranium to build an atomic bomb. File Photo by IAEA/EPA-EFE
May 31 (UPI) -- Iran has accumulated enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb and has failed to provide information about nuclear material found in the country, the United Nations atomic agency said in a pair of reports Tuesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% had risen to 95 pounds, up 22 pounds from three months ago -- roughly enough for the nation to craft an atomic bomb if it were to enrich the uranium to 90% purity -- according to the report obtained by NBC News.
The report also noted that moving the uranium from 60% to 90% purity would not be a technical challenge for Iran.
"Iran has now accumulated enough enriched uranium to be able to quickly produce more than a significant quantity of HEU (highly enriched uranium) for one bomb," Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association think tank told NBC News. "The time it would take them to do that can now be measured in days, not months or weeks."
The IAEA also said Iran has not "provided explanations that are technically credible in relation to the Agency's findings" at locations where undeclared nuclear material was found, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It had also not informed the IAEA of the current location of the nuclear material that was found or equipment that had been contaminated with uranium particles despite being given "numerous opportunities" to account for the undeclared nuclear material.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said the IAEA's reports were unfair and did not reflect the truth about discussions between Iran and the U.N. agency.
"The report was concluded at the time of or even before the meeting between Iran and IAEA and it seems the conclusion was released hastily," he said.
