According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the number of nuclear weapons and models continues to rise globally, with China's nuclear arsenal growing at a faster rate compared to other nations.

The report states that the nine nuclear-armed states – the United States, Russia, Britain, France, India, China, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel – continued to modernize their nuclear forces in 2023, with some even deploying nuclear weapons during the year.

Regarding Israel, the report notes that while the country does not publicly acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons, it appears to be modernizing its arsenal and potentially upgrading its plutonium production reactor in Dimona.

In total, the nine nuclear-armed states possess 12,121 nuclear warheads, with 9,585 of them being operational as of January 2024. Of these, approximately 3,904 warheads are deployed on missiles and aircraft – an increase of 60 from January 2023 – while the remaining warheads are held in reserve.

The report estimates that around 2,100 warheads are deployed on ballistic missiles and kept in a state of high operational readiness, able to be launched promptly. Nearly all of these high-alert warheads belong to the United States and Russia, which together account for approximately 90% of the global nuclear stockpile. However, for the first time, there are indications that China has also deployed a limited number of warheads in a state of high readiness during peacetime.

According to SIPRI, China's nuclear warhead inventory increased from 410 in January 2023 to 500 in January 2024, and it is expected to continue growing. Experts from the institute estimate that by the end of the decade, depending on how Beijing chooses to build its military forces, China could match or potentially surpass the United States or Russia in the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles it possesses.

"China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country," said Hans Kristensen, a senior SIPRI researcher. "But in nearly all of the nuclear-armed states, there are either plans or a significant push to increase nuclear forces."

Wilfred Wan, the director of SIPRI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, emphasized the heightened significance of nuclear weapons in international relations, stating, "'We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War. It is hard to believe that barely two years have passed since the leaders of the five largest nuclear-armed states jointly reaffirmed that 'a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.'"

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Iran will cancel its recent agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency if Europe takes action to condemn Iran in international institutions, spokesman for the Iranian government Ali Rabiei announced on Tuesday.

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"If any decision is made to condemn Iran, our leadership will respond appropriately, and consider a complete withdrawal from the understands we reached with the IAEA," Rabiei told the Tasnim news agency.

In February, after Iran announced that it had passed legislation that would constrain the work of IAEA inspectors in the country, the IAEA made a deal with Iran to allow partial oversight to continue.

On Monday, IAEA head Rafael Grossi said that the temporary agreement with Iran to allow United Nations inspectors continued access to the country's atomic facilities was less comprehensive than before, but laid the groundwork for the return to full verification measures if and when Tehran allowed it.

Under the agreement, Iran will no longer share surveillance footage of its nuclear facilities with the IAEA but it has promised to preserve the tapes for three months. It will then hand them over to the IAEA if it is granted sanctions relief. Otherwise, Iran has vowed to erase the tapes, narrowing the window for a diplomatic breakthrough.

Grossi said the deal meant inspectors could still keep track of the quantity of enriched uranium, for example, but have lost their view of other activities such as Iran's mining operations and its research and development.

That means they're not able to form as complete a picture of Iran's nuclear program, Grossi suggested.

"With a nuclear program which has the breadth and depth of the Iranian one – complex,  big, sophisticated – we need everything," he said.

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Rabiei repeated that Iran refused to negotiate with the US over its nuclear program, saying, "We do not accept the hypocritical rhetoric of the United States. We will not sit down to any negotiations or discussions under the sanctions the Trump administration put on us are removed."

Meanwhile, various Iranian government spokesmen have made a series of vehemently anti-Israel statements.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he called "prime minister of the Zionist regime," suffered from "an obsessive mental illness when it comes to everything concerning Iran. Despite the wretched situation we see in Israeli territory, they see the declarations about Iran as a way of evading their situation."

However, Khatibzadeh denied that Iran was involved in the attack on the Israeli-owned ship Helios Ray in the Gulf of Oman on Feb. 26, and said that the Israeli accusations of Iranian involvement were designed to hurt Iran's position.

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Speaking during a weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday, Rouhani said: "We agree with the general framework by the Europeans."

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France, Britain, and Germany had urged Tehran to enter talks about a new arrangement on the nuclear deal.

Rouhani said the plan included preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, securing its support for regional peace, lifting US sanctions and the immediate resumption of Iranian oil exports.

He said the plan could have been discussed during his New York visit last week for the UN General Assembly, but that US President Donald Trump scuppered chances by openly threatening to impose more sanctions.

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