Iran War & Ceasefire — 2026-05-13

Iran Threatens Weapons-Grade Uranium Enrichment as Peace Talks Falter

Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, posted on X Tuesday that Tehran would enrich uranium to 90% weapons grade if the US resumed strikes and said parliament would debate the option. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued an overnight ultimatum that Washington had "no alternative" but to accept Tehran's 14-point proposal. Trump rejected the proposal as "completely unacceptable" and said the ceasefire was on "massive life support"; US media reported he convened his national security team Monday to weigh renewed strikes. Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News that Iranian negotiators acknowledged holding roughly 460 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, which he said could yield about 11 warheads within one to two weeks.

Analysis
The threat, sourced to a parliamentary committee spokesperson rather than the Supreme National Security Council or the Supreme Leader's office and carried by a single independent news thread rather than convergent outlets, is committee rhetoric, not executive policy. Iran has used enrichment escalation as negotiating leverage across successive diplomatic rounds without crossing the weapons-grade threshold. That pattern grounds a high-confidence judgment that enrichment to 90 percent within 60 days is unlikely. The statement may instead reflect domestic hardliner pressure on the Pezeshkian government, constraining negotiating flexibility regardless of executive intent. Witkoff's public acknowledgment of the 460-kilogram stockpile raises the cost of miscalculation. Should the enrichment assessment shift, the national security team's timeline for renewed strikes accelerates.
5 sources
  1. Iran threatens weapons-grade uranium enrichment as peace talks falter - Euronews
  2. Iran could enrich uranium to weapons grade if attacked, lawmaker warns - Al Arabiya
  3. Iran Could Enrich Uranium to Weapons Grade if Attacked, Lawmaker Warns - Asharq Al-Awsat
  4. Iran could enrich uranium to weapons-grade if attacked again, says lawmaker - Business Standard
  5. Lawmaker Warns Iran Could Enrich Uranium To Weapons Grade If Attacked - RFE/RL

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