Based on assumptions that Iran was still years away from fielding a nuclear weapons, the United Nations and the European Union have taken a very slow diplomatic approach to resolving the crisis.

But a report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday revealed that Iran had produced far more low-enriched uranium than anyone previously believed.

According to the report, Iran now has well over 1,000 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, more than enough to build a nuclear weapon.

While the uranium still has to go through additional enriching to be weapons grade, that process is much easier and faster than producing the uranium in the first place.

UN inspectors cited by the New York Times tried to dismiss the seriousness of the situation by claiming the discrepancies between how much uranium Iran said it has and how much it actually has were merely a case of mistaken underreporting by Tehran.