Iran has enriched more than 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said on Saturday.

 

“We have passed 120 kilograms. We have more than that figure,” state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

 

“Our people know well that they [Western powers] were meant to give us the enriched fuel at 20 percent to use in the Tehran reactor, but they haven't done so. If our colleagues do not do it, we would naturally have problems with the lack of fuel for the Tehran reactor,” Eslami said.

 

He reiterated Tehran’s long-standing stance of saying its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes and stressed that Iran was only looking after its “national interests.”

 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported last month that Iran had 84.3 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent.

 

Analysis by the Institute for Science and International Security of IAEA data last month estimated that Iran has gained the capability to produce enough fuel needed for a single nuclear warhead within approximately a month.

 

Under the abandoned 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was only allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67 percent, way below the 90 percent required for weapons-grade uranium.

 

However, after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and imposed sanctions on Iran, Tehran began aggressively enriching uranium.

 

Nuclear talks between Iran and the US have stalled after Ebrahim Raisi was elected president.

Washington warned that its patience was wearing thin and threatened a so called “Plan B” was in place if Tehran wouldn’t play ball, but did not elaborate on the details of said plan.

 

On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he was optimistic that talks with the US on reviving the 2015 deal would make progress, stressing the importance of sanctions being lifted off Tehran.