The UN atomic watchdog on Tuesday said Iran has increased its stockpile of enriched uranium in breach of the 2015 accord intended to limit Tehran’s nuclear program. The uranium could be used to make nuclear weapons and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran had rendered the agency unable to continue with its inspections of the country’s nuclear activities. Under the accord, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. Tehran responded to Washington’s decision to withdraw and reimpose sanctions by contravening many of those nuclear restrictions. Indirect talks between the US and Iran, which took place in Vienna, have halted since Tehran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi took office.
