• US intelligence officials suspect Iran is looking to Russia for assistance to strengthen its nuclear weapons programme.
• Tehran has been requesting assistance from Moscow in getting more nuclear materials, insiders say.
• Fuel could help Iran power its nuclear reactors and could potentially further shorten Iran’s so-called “breakout time” to create a nuclear weapon.

US intelligence officials suspect that Iran is looking to Russia for assistance to strengthen its nuclear weapons programme as Tehran searches for a fallback option in the event that a long-term nuclear agreement with major powers does not materialize.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, said last week that Iran was looking to Russia for help with its nuclear programme in return for the military support Moscow has provided. However, the intelligence gathered by the US does not indicate the existence of an explicit quid-pro-quo, according to sources briefed on the situation.

The latest information reveals, according to insiders, that Tehran has been requesting assistance from Moscow in getting more nuclear materials and in the production of nuclear fuel.

The fuel could help Iran power its nuclear reactors and could potentially further shorten Iran’s so-called “breakout time” to create a nuclear weapon.

However, experts stressed to media channel that the risk of nuclear proliferation varies depending on the type of reactor the fuel is utilized in.

Furthermore, it is unclear if Russia has agreed to assist because the Kremlin has long been openly opposed to Tehran acquiring a nuclear weapon.

The Iranian suggestion comes amid a growing alliance between Iran and Russia, which has seen Tehran transfer drones and other weaponry to Moscow for use in its war in Ukraine and Moscow possibly offering Tehran advice on how to stifle a protest movement sweeping Iran, according to US officials.

The idea among senior Iranian officials that a new nuclear deal either won’t be renewed or, if it is, won’t last, appears to be at least partially behind Iran’s overtures to Russia.

According to sources informed on the intelligence, Iran’s fears seemed to have grown more pressing over the summer as it appeared to be nearing a new nuclear agreement with the US and other major world powers known as the P5+1, which also includes Russia.

Iran sought a side agreement with Russia that would enable it to quickly reestablish its nuclear programme in the event that it became necessary due to its concern that a future administration may withdraw from a deal, as the Trump administration did in 2018.

A senior administration official responded to media’s question about whether the expanding Iran-Russia partnership contributed to the collapse of the nuclear deal negotiations by saying: “Obviously, side deals between Russia that fundamentally undermined the structure of the 2015 agreement would be a serious concern and further reduce the possibility of a return to the agreement.” The representative opted not to comment particularly on intelligence evaluations.

According to James Acton, co-director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Nuclear Policy Program, Iran does not necessarily need the assistance, but they do have an incentive to create the fuel more swiftly, more affordably, and within a shorter time frame.

Requests for comment from the Russian Foreign Ministry and Iranian Mission to the UN went unanswered.

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