French President Emmanuel Macron warned the world on Monday, Jan. 6, that Iran is nearing “the point of no return” when it comes to procuring potential nuclear weapons. Macron said during his address to French ambassadors that Tehran has enough enriched uranium to power a handful of nuclear warheads, and called Iran the biggest strategic threat that Europe faces.
It’s not just Macron who said Iran is increasing its enriched uranium stockpile. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said in December that Iran was “dramatically” accelerating enrichment, and roughly 90% of its uranium stockpile was at bomb-grade level.
France was part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which fell apart in 2018 when the first Trump administration withdrew the United States. Under that deal, Iran had agreed to pull back on its nuclear program in exchange for international sanctions being lifted.
As a result of the U.S. backing out, Iran began enriching uranium at higher levels, which reportedly shortened the time needed to make a nuclear device from months to weeks.
President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House on Monday, Jan. 20, is also reportedly raising fresh concerns after he drew a hardline with Tehran during his first term.
Trump reapplied sanctions against Iran and ordered the killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020, which some say nearly sparked a war between the U.S. and Iran.
Macron said he is still debating whether more sanctions may be the answering to deterring Tehran from further enhancing its nuclear program and will talk with the incoming Trump administration about the “Iranian question.”
Tehran repeatedly insisted it is not using the enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon. However, the West has been skeptical of the denial, especially given Iran’s support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas have suffered heavy losses at the hands of Israel in recent months.
