“One of Iran’s options in the event of another attack could be 90 per cent enrichment, We will review it in the parliament,” said Iranian Parliamentary Commission spokesperson Ebrahim Rezaei amid reports of renewed US attacks
Amid media reports suggesting US President Donald Trump is weighing fresh military action against Iran as negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain stalled, the Islamic Republic on Tuesday warned that it may enrich its uranium stockpile to 90 per cent purity — considered weapons-grade level — if it comes under renewed attack from the United States or Israel.
In a post on X, Iranian Parliamentary Commission spokesperson Ebrahim Rezaei, said, “One of Iran’s options in the event of another attack could be 90 per cent enrichment.”
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“We will review it in the parliament,” he added.
یکی از گزینههای ایران در صورت حمله مجدد میتواند غنیسازی ۹۰ درصد باشد. در مجلس بررسی میکنیم.
— ابراهیم رضایی (@EbrahimRezaei14) May 12, 2026Iran’s uranium stockpile
According to a New York Times report, over the past eight years, following President Trump’s withdrawal of the US from the nuclear agreement with Tehran during his first term, Iran has built up an estimated 22,000 pounds (11,000 kilograms) of enriched uranium.
Iran began enriching uranium on an industrial scale in 2006, maintaining that its nuclear programme was intended for peaceful purposes.
However, reports from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), showed that the country’s uranium reserves continued to expand over time.
In 2010, Tehran announced plans to enrich uranium up to 20 per cent purity, claiming the material was needed as fuel for a research reactor. That level is widely regarded as the threshold separating civilian and potential military applications.
According to the IAEA, around 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of Iran’s uranium stockpile has now been enriched to 60 per cent purity — technically only a short step away from weapons-grade uranium, which is enriched to about 90 per cent.
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Experts note that the enrichment process becomes progressively easier as purity levels increase. Moving from natural uranium to 20 per cent enrichment is significantly more difficult than advancing from 20 per cent to 60 per cent, or from 60 per cent to 90 per cent, the level generally associated with nuclear weapons production.
In June 2021, then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged that Iran had the technical capability to enrich uranium up to 90 per cent if required for its reactors. At the same time, he reiterated Tehran’s support for reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement, under which Iran would limit its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
“Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation can enrich uranium by 20 per cent and 60 per cent and, if one day our reactor needs it, it can enrich uranium to 90 per cent purity,” Mehr news agency quoted Rouhani as saying during a cabinet meeting.
Where is Iran’s uranium?
The current location of Iran’s uranium stockpile remains uncertain. The IAEA believes that much of the material is still stored at the Isfahan nuclear complex, which was targeted in airstrikes in June last year and later faced less severe attacks during this year’s US-Israeli operations.
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Referring to satellite imagery, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said earlier this week that the agency believes a substantial portion of Iran’s highly enriched uranium “was stored there in June 2025 when the 12-day war broke out, and it has remained there since.”
“We have not yet been able to inspect the site or confirm whether the material is still there and whether the IAEA seals remain intact,” Grossi said. “We hope to verify that soon, but for now, this remains our best assessment.”
‘Closely tracking Iran’s enriched uranium’
President Trump has repeatedly pointed to Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile — which he has referred to as “nuclear dust” — as a justification for his military campaign against Tehran’s Islamic regime, a conflict that has now continued for more than 70 days.
He has maintained that the United States would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
“We’re not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump has said repeatedly.
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Earlier this week, he told reporters that Washington was “closely monitoring” Iran’s uranium stockpile and warned that the US would know if anyone approached the site and would “blow them up.”
On Monday, Trump also cautioned that the ceasefire in the Middle East conflict was on “life support” after dismissing Iran’s latest counterproposal. Tehran, meanwhile, said its military was prepared to respond to any further aggression.
With inputs from agencies
First Published:
May 12, 2026, 18:22 IST
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