Khabar 24h SIMPLE EXPLAINERS ON WORLD AFFAIRS, SCIENCE, HEALTH AND MORE.

KHABAR 24H

Simple explainers on world affairs, science, health and more.

All news under one minute

What Happened Today Read in one minute

Why Iran’s 60% uranium enrichment is the war’s sticking point

US Vice President JD Vance says Iran must cut its uranium enrichment capacity to end the seven-month war.

If you don't want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60% enriched fuel? he said in a Reuters interview on 6 October.

But what does 60 percent enrichment mean? Natural uranium has less than 1 percent of the fissile isotope U-235.

Enriching it increases that share. Power reactors need 3 to 5 percent. Weapons need about 90 percent.

At 60 percent, Iran is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade material.

The IAEA estimated Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched up to 60 percent. That is enough for about 10 nuclear weapons by an IAEA yardstick.

Vance wants capacity cuts, not promises. We're not going to trade words for actions, he said.

Israel struck Iran's nuclear facilities on 13 June in the 12-day campaign last year.

Since then, Washington and Tehran have exchanged proposals to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Avatar photo
Written by
Khabar 24h Editorial Desk

Khabar 24h Editorial Desk — our explainers are prepared by the Khabar 24h editorial team using AI-assisted research tools, and every piece is reviewed by a human editor before publishing. We do not claim original reporting: our work is turning complex topics into simple, accurate summaries. Spotted an error? Write to contact@khabar24h.com — our corrections policy aims for same-day review.

More from this author →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *