Germany and Israel have expressed grave concern about an allegation that Iran has enriched uranium to 83.7% purity, which could be used to produce a nuclear bomb. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not denied the report but has only said that it is discussing with Iran the results of recent activities.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said that there is no plausible civilian justification for such a high enrichment level. Iranian spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, however, suggested that any detection of uranium particles enriched to that level was a momentary side effect of trying to reach 60% purity.

Meanwhile, CIA Director Williams Burns told CBS, “To the best of our knowledge, we don’t believe that the supreme leader in Iran has yet made a decision to resume the weaponization program that we judge they suspended or stopped at the end of 2003.”

The German and Israeli foreign ministers have suggested two options to deal with the implications of this discovery. The first is to use a ‘snapback’ mechanism to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran. The second is a credible military option, which would involve the use of force to prevent Iran from continuing to develop their nuclear capabilities.