Iran has agreed to ship 1,200 kilograms of low-grade enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment for later use in medical research, says Woodrow Wilson Institute scholar Michael Adler.
“Iran has made so far about 1,500 kilograms of low enriched uranium, and this is the crucial number,” he said. “It is the number that they would need to enrich further if they were going to make a nuclear weapon. And when you start getting these quantities of enriched uranium, you get concerned that the country could have the breakout capability to go ahead and make a bomb.”
If Iran reduces the amount of uranium they have, it would be a major step forward in negotiations and could mean Tehran wouldn't be left with enough material to be able to build a nuclear bomb, the scholar said. But, Adler added, Iran still has to carry through on getting this uranium out of the country.