What should have been the most important war the United States has fought since World War II has descended into chaos.
The Institute for Science and National Security issued its “Analysis of IAEA Iran Verification and Monitoring Report: May 2025” by David Albright, Sarah Burkhard and Spencer August Faragasso on June 9, 2025. The report cited an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report dated May 31, 2025, that Iran’s stockpile of 60% highly enriched uranium (HEU) amounted to 233 kg.
Two weeks ago, the IAEA reported a slight increase of 60% HEU to 440.9 kilograms, enough to yield approximately 10 nuclear weapons. The finding reported that it would take only two to three days to produce 25 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium (WGU), which is 90% material. This amount of U-235 is a bit more than the 22 kilograms of critical mass of U-235 needed to trigger a nuclear explosion.
The 90% meme, however, is a bit of a myth. The Hiroshima bomb was 80% material, but merely required a larger device than what is put on modern missiles to be effective, and there is more than one way to deliver a nuke. An 80% bomb can be flown by a jet plane or loaded onto an ocean freighter. A 90% bomb does not need to be fitted to an ICBM. Intermediate-range missiles launched from ships mid-ocean will more than suffice.
The disturbing fact is that Iran potentially has at least 35 nukes. Almost no one mentions its 20% enriched material, and no one is talking about its 5% trove.