Iran has agreed to allow increased monitoring of its Fordow nuclear site by the International Atomic Energy Agency, after the agency reported last Friday that Iran had rapidly upped the pace of its production of 60% enriched uranium at Fordow. 

The IAEA’s confidential report said that “Iran agreed to the Agency’s request to increase the frequency and intensity of the implementation of safeguards at Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and is facilitating the implementation of this strengthened safeguards approach,” according to Reuters.  

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reported to the IAEA Board of Governors last Friday that Tehran could generate as much as 34 kilograms (75 pounds) of 60% enriched uranium, just a step away from nuclear weapons-grade levels, per month.  

That would mark a sharp increase from what the agency previously estimated as roughly 10 pounds (4.7k grams) per month. The Iranian government has still not made a decision to pursue the manufacture of a nuclear weapon, a US intelligence report released last week said. 

The pace could reach seven- to eight-times as much as the current pace at which Iran is believed to be building its 60% stockpile, “or even more,” Grossi said. The nuclear facility at Fordow could reach up to 34 kilograms per month, Reuters reported. Iran is already believed to have amassed at least 400 pounds of 60%-enriched uranium, the IAEA previously concluded.