Iran hands over uranium stockpile to Russia

New York Times : Yesterday a Russian ship left Iran carrying most of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. The transfer of the material, some of which was enriched to 20% of the isotope ²³⁵U, was a major component of the nuclear deal struck last month between Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council—China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US—plus Germany. The transfer means that Iran no longer has enough material to make a nuclear bomb. An Iranian reactor that used highly enriched uranium (20% ²³⁵U) to generate medical isotopes will be rebuilt to use low-enriched material (5% ²³⁵U). Iran is now carrying out some of the last remaining parts of the nuclear deal: dismantling the majority of its enrichment centrifuges and decommisioning a plutonium reactor. In the future, Russia will provide Iran with the fuel needed for its nuclear reactors, one which is operating and another that is under construction. Another four are planned.