Iran recently moved almost its entire stockpile of low-enriched uranium to an above-ground facility, The New York Times reported on Saturday.According to a recent report by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, roughly 4,300 pounds (1,950kg) of low-enriched nuclear fuel was moved all at once from storage deep underground to a facility where they can be enriched to 20 percent. 80 to 90 percent enrichment is required for nuclear weapons.
Iran’s inexplicable action, which has confused Western officials, exposes the material to an airstrike or even ground-based sabotage. The Times quoted one official as saying the move was tantamount to painting a bull’s-eye on the stockpile.
It is made even stranger by the fact that, when confronted late last year over a new underground nuclear facility in Qom, Teheran insisted that building the base was necessary to protect its uranium stockpile from ...