Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
     The Iranian mission to the U.N. responded to questions about Grossi’s remarks. They said that Iran “is prepared to stick to its commitments within the framework of the (deal) provided the other parties do the same. The Iranian nuclear program has never been about making nuclear weapons and enriching has nothing to do with deviating from it.” These comments were made despite Iran accelerating its enrichment after the collapse of the 2015 deal.
     Iranian state television separately quoted Mohammad Eslami who is the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program. He said that Iran would welcome a visit by Grossi to the country.
     As Iran’s rial currency plunge further to historic lows against the dollar amid its crises, Iranian officials also have made unsupported claims about American officials agreeing to their demands for frozen money abroad being released.
     At the U.S. State Department, the concerns about Iran’s claims have grown more and more pointed. Ned Price is a State Department spokesperson who responded to a question on Monday. He said, “We’ve heard a number of statements from the Iranian foreign minister that are dubious if not outright lies, so I would just keep that broader context in mind when you point to statements from the Iranian foreign minister.”
     Price and other officials in the Biden administration say that any future talks with Iran remain off the table as Iran cracks down on months-long protests after the death of ZMahsa Amini. She was a young woman detained in September by Iran’s morality police. At least five hundred and twenty seven people have been killed and over nineteen thousand five hundred arrested during the unrest. This was reported by Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group monitored the protests.
     Another part of American and European exasperation comes from the fact that Iran is sending bomb-carrying drones to Russia which have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian power plants and civilian targets. Iran has a strained history with Russia. It is not clear what they expect to get for supplying weapons to Russia. One Iranian lawmakers has suggested that Iran could get Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of pre-1979 U.S. warplanes. No such deal has yet been confirmed.
     Such fighter jets would provide a key air defense for Iran. This could be critical as its nuclear sites are tempting targets for Western nations fearful of an nuclear armed Iran. Israel has carried on strikes in Iraq and Syria to stop nuclear programs. It has publicly stated that it will not permit Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
     The U.S. and Israel also launched their biggest joint air, land and sea exercise this week with over one hundred and forty warplanes, an aircraft carrier group and almost eight thousand troops called Juniper Oak. The Pentagon described the drill as “not meant to be oriented around any single adversary or threat.” However, it comes amid increasing tensions with Iran and includes aerial refueling, targeting and suppressing enemy air defenses. Such capabilities would be crucial in conducting airstrikes.
     For now, Grossi said that there was “almost no diplomatic activity” over trying to restore the Iran nuclear deal. He now describes the agreement as an “empty shell.” However, he still urged more diplomacy as Iran would still need to design and test any possible nuclear weapon. “We shouldn’t give up,” he said.

Ambient office = 85 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 109 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 111 nanosieverts per hour

Avocado from Central Market = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 94 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 84 nanosieverts per hour

Part 1 of 2 Parts
     The United Nations’ (U.N.) top nuclear official is now warning that Iran has enough highly enriched uranium to build “several” nuclear warheads if it chooses. Unfortunately, diplomatic efforts once again restricting Iran’s nuclear program seem even less likely than before as Iran supplies drones to Russia in its war on Ukraine and riots shake the Islamic Republic.
     The warning about Iran’s uranium was issued by Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He was responding to questions from European lawmakers this week which illustrated just how concerned the international community is. Iran has never enriched uranium to as high a level, even during the height of previous tensions between the West and Iran under the hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad before the 2015 nuclear deal.
     For the past few months, nonproliferation experts have suggested that Iran had enough highly enriched uranium to build at least one nuclear weapon. Iran has long claimed that its program is for peaceful purposes. Grossi remarked that “we need to be extremely careful” in describing Iran’s nuclear program. He also bluntly acknowledged just how big Iran’s high-enriched uranium stockpile had grown. Gross said, “One thing is true: They have amassed enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons, not one at this point.”
     The Argentinian diplomat then referred to Benjamin Netanyahu’s famous 2012 speech to the U.N. In the speech, the Israeli prime minister held up a cartoon-style bomb with a burning wick. He drew a red line through the image to urge the world not to allow Iran’s program to highly enrich uranium. The 2015 nuclear deal drastically reduced Iran’s uranium stockpile and capped its enrichment to three point six seven percent. Netanyahu successfully lobbied then-President Donald Trump to withdraw from the accord and created the current international tension.
      Grossi said, “You remember there was to be this issue of the breakthrough and Mr. Netanyahu drawing things at the U.N. and putting lines — well, that is long past. They have 70 kilograms (155 pounds) of uranium enriched at 60%. … The amount is there. That doesn’t mean they have a nuclear weapon. So they haven’t proliferated yet.”
      However, the danger still remains. Analysts pointed out what happened with North Korea (N.K.). It had reached a 1994 accord with the U.S. to abandon its nuclear weapons program. The arrangement collapsed in 2002. By 2005, N.K. was concerned about U.S. intentions after it invaded Iraq so it announced that it had built nuclear weapons. Today, N.K. has ballistic missiles that are designed to carry nuclear warheads and are capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
     Iranian diplomats have for years pointed to Supreme Leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei’s preachings as a binding religious edict or fatwa that Iran would not develop an atomic bomb. However, Iranian officials in recent months have begun to openly talk about the possibility of building nuclear weapons.
     Talks between Iran and the West ended last August with a “final text” of a roadmap on restoring the 2015 arrangement that that Iran has still not accepted.
Please read Part 2 next

Ambient office = 89 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 101 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 106 nanosieverts per hour

Shallots from Central Market = 122 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 119 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 102 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 114 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 113 nanosieverts per hour

Red bell pepper from Central Market = 113 nanosieverts per hour

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Filter water = 80 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient office = 121 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 96 nanosieverts per hour

Crimini mushroom from Central Market = 91 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 98 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Dover Sole from Central = 97 nanosieverts per hour