To what extent is Iran enriching its nuclear program with uranium? This is the important question and purpose of the visit of Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, to Tehran.

Check that Iran's nuclear industry does not come dangerously close to possessing a nuclear weapon, after Tehran was "accused" of exceeding the 3.67% limit set by the international agreement on the enrichment of depleted uranium. The enrichment has aroused apprehension among countries near and far with which the Islamic Republic has always been at odds, such as Israel and the United States.

Iran has at least three nuclear production plants including that of Fordow origin of the recent controversy according to which - in the latest IAEA report - it is there that Tehran enriches the dangerous uranium particles up to 87%. Iran denies the allegations.

Grossi's mission began last night. For now, reports the Argentine at a press conference, there are "constructive discussions and understanding with the Iranian leaders and expectations are high" also on the relaunch of the nuclear agreement (JCPOE of 2015) considered by many experts, instead a dead letter (agreement from which the US left in 2018).

With him at the press conference Mohammad Eslami, the counterpart director of the Atomic Energy Agency who spoke of "mutual trust". Today a meeting is also scheduled with President Ebrahim Raisi.

In front of his interlocutor, Grossi also guaranteed that he would strongly condemn the hypothesis of an American or Israeli attack against Iranian nuclear facilities: "Any military action against nuclear power plants is totally reprehensible and illegal and is outside international standards," he said. "We are concerned about nuclear escalation," the CIA said a few days ago.

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The concerns therefore remain: Iran is among the superpowers of the world together with China and the United States and Russia to be able to produce the atomic while a very difficult war is underway in the heart of Europe.

According to IAEA estimates, Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium amounted to 3,760 kilos as of February 12, or 18 times higher than the maximum set by the 2015 Treaty. If the maximum enrichment limit is 3.67%, Iran would instead be in possession of at least 434 kilos of uranium at 20% and 87.5 kilos at 60%. Tehran justified traces of enriched uranium with "involuntary fluctuations" during the enrichment process and that it had never tried to proceed beyond the 60% level for military purposes.

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Women without a veil in Tehran

Not only nuclear, Grossi's two-day event comes as the Islamic Republic grapples with one of the most important protests since its establishment in 1979, stemming from the death of Masha Amini in September. In many cities of the country, the people continue to demand structural reforms both socially and economically.

Last but not least, the news of hundreds of students who were intoxicated in religious schools where the Shiite reading of the Koran is law. "Plan of the foreign enemy to harm us," President Raisi said yesterday.