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State Department: We're All 'Totally Perplexed' by New York Times Story on Iran's Increased Nuclear Stockpile
(Washington Free Beacon) Andrew Kugle - State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said U.S. officials were "totally perplexed" by a New York Times story Tuesday on Iran's 20 percent increase in nuclear fuel over the past 18 months. Would the increased stockpiles complicate the current negotiations? "Not at all. Our team read that story this morning and was quite frankly perplexed because the main contentions of it are totally inaccurate," Harf said. "The notion in the story that western officials or U.S. officials involved were unaware of this issue or not understanding of what this entails is just absurd," Harf said. "Under the JPOA (Joint Plan of Action), Iran can fluctuate its numbers in terms of their stockpile. They can go up and down as long as at the end of fixed date they are back down below a number." The Institute for Science and International Security analyzed the question of whether Iran could meet its obligations regarding five percent low enriched uranium, and authors David Albright and Serene Kelleher-Vergantini assessed that "Iran has fallen behind in its pledge to convert its newly produced LEU hexafluoride into oxide form. There are legitimate questions about whether Iran can produce all the requisite LEU oxide."