Iran is "dramatically" bolstering its stockpile of 60% purified uranium, which is close to the roughly 90% purity required for making nuclear bombs, the international nuclear watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi has told Reuters in an interview.

Tehran’s 60% enriched uranium production rate is set to rise to "seven, eight times more, maybe, or even more" than the previous rate of 5-7 kg a month in the very near future, Grossi added.

The move is certain to cause even greater alarm in Western capitals already arguing that there is no civilian justification for Iran's enrichment to 60% level of its existing stock as no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs, which Iran denies pursuing.

Iran already has enough material enriched to up to 60%, its most highly enriched stock, for making four nuclear weapons if enriched about 30% further, according to IAEA.

"Today the agency is announcing that the production capacity is increasing dramatically of the 60% inventory," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Grossi said on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain's capital.

The escalation comes just a week after European and Iranian officials made little progress in meetings on whether they could engage in serious talks over the disputed nuclear programme, before Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.

Tehran was angered by a resolution last month put forward by Britain, Germany and France, known as the E3, that criticised Iran for poor cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Trump, who after pulling the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers pursued a "maximum pressure" policy that sought to wreck Iran's economy, is staffing his new administration with noted hawks on Iran.

Friday's move is also a setback for Grossi since he said after a trip to Iran in November that Tehran had accepted his "request" that it cap its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% to ease diplomatic tensions, calling it "a concrete step in the right direction".

Diplomats said at the time, however, that Iran's step, which included preparing to implement that cap, was conditional on the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors not passing a resolution against Iran over its insufficient cooperation with the agency, which the Board then did regardless.

"We do not have any diplomatic process ongoing which could lead to a de-escalation, or a more stable equation when it comes to Iran," Grossi said. "This is regrettable."

Source: Reuters