Fears that Iran’s stockpile of uranium was large enough to construct a nuclear bomb were unfounded, U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Tuesday. The intelligence officials in question also denounced a connection to recent missile testing in the country, saying that the nuclear energy and missile defense programs are believed to be on separate tracks.

Though Tehran possesses an ample 1,010kg of low enriched uranium, it is not yet converted to its highly enriched state, the state needed for use in nuclear weapons. “Iran has not yet made [the] decision” to convert their uranium stocks into its weapons-grade counterpart, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told Congress. The US Intelligence community has reached the general consensus that as of yet, Iran poses no serious nuclear threat, in spite of technological advancements in missile technology over the past month.

The conversion of low enriched uranium to weapons-grade requires certain facilities not knowingly possessed by Iran, and the threats of military action by Israel were in response to what is being labeled the hypothetical “worst case scenario”. Iran maintains that their nuclear intentions are peaceful; needless to say, US officials and their international counterparts are monitoring the situation for any changes, with the utmost diplomacy.

Russian stakes in the issue are very high, as the construction of a European missile shield could be halted in return for disabling any threat in Iran. Russia has expressly stated that it does not want a missile shield in place but has thus far refused to “haggle” over the matter involving Iran.

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