International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said that Iran is his "biggest preoccupation" when discussing nuclear-powered countries in an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday.
Grossi told the Times this as a new confidential IAEA report said that the Islamic Republic had dramatically increased its uranium stockpile enrichment "close to weapons grade."
“Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon at this moment, but it has the material,” he told the Times. He also claimed that Israel's threats against the Islamic Republic imply that "the Iranian thing has incredible potential to become catastrophic. If there is a failure in negotiation, this will imply, most probably, military action.”
Grossi then mentions the nuclear capabilities the Islamic Republic has, saying that one would have to go half a mile underground to find them.
"I have been there many times,” he added. “To get there, you take a spiral tunnel down, down, down."
The Times further quoted him saying that "Today we could have 30 countries, which could have nuclear weapons, judging from their technical development, but we have nine,” and says that if Iran is added to that list, "you could have a cascade in the Middle East."
He also said that US President Donald Trump's actions on Iran "have triggered negotiations where there were none before, and this is objectively commendable.”
What other countries concern Grossi?
Grossi noted his concern for Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia and its occupation by Russian forces.
He also told the Times that Russian President Vladimir Putin's repeated threats to use nuclear weapons "is worrying because it normalizes this."