Iran could resume enriching uranium within months, UN nuclear watchdog boss says

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2 days ago

Iran could resume producing enriched uranium in months, according to comments made by the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog that have raised more doubts about the efficacy of US strikes on Tehran's nuclear program.
Officials in the United States have repeatedly stated that the strikes on Iran's Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities "obliterated" them, although President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing the Middle Eastern nation again if it was enriching uranium to worrisome levels.
Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told CBS News in an interview on Sunday that Iran's capabilities to resolve any damage to its nuclear program do not appear to have been wiped out.
"The capacities they have are there. They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that," he said.
US officials also obtained an intercepted phone call between Iranian officials appearing to suggest the government in Tehran believes the US strikes were less devastating than expected, according to a report from The Washington Post.
In an interview on Sunday local time, Mr Trump also suggested that his government would look to investigate and potentially prosecute individuals found responsible for leaking an internal, preliminary classified report that cast doubt on how successful the US strikes in Iran were.
"They should be prosecuted. The people who leaked it," the president said on the Fox News US.
"We can find out. If they wanted, they could find out easily.
"You go up and tell the reporter: 'National security, who gave it?' You have to do that, and I'll suspect we'll be doing things like that."
Mr Trump's interview with Fox aired as his "Big Beautiful Bill" cleared a procedural hurdle in the US Senate, before it entered a 10-hour debate process.
The US strikes came after Israel said this month it wanted to remove any chance of Iran developing nuclear weapons, launching its own attacks on Tehran that ignited a 12-day war between the two countries.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Mr Grossi said the US strikes on the three Iranian sites had significantly set back Iran's ability to convert and enrich uranium.
Western powers, however, have stressed that Iran's nuclear advances provide it with an irreversible knowledge gain, suggesting that while losing experts or facilities may slow progress, the advances were permanent.
"Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology," Mr Grossi said.
"So, you cannot disinvent this. You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have."
Mr Grossi was also asked about reports of Iran moving its stock of highly enriched uranium in the run-up to the US strikes and said it was not clear where that material was.
"Some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved," he said.
On Friday, Mr Trump scoffed at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's heated warning to the US not to launch future strikes on Iran, as well as the Iranian supreme leader's assertion that Tehran 'won the war" with Israel.
Mr Trump said the ayatollah's comments defied reality after 12 days of Israeli strikes and the US bombardment, and the US president suggested the comments were unbecoming of Iran's most powerful political and religious figure.
"Look, you're a man of great faith. A man who's highly respected in his country. You have to tell the truth," Mr Trump said.
"You got beat to hell."
Mr Trump also told reporters at the White House that he expected Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify that it does not restart its nuclear program.
Asked if he would demand during expected talks with Iran that the IAEA or some other organisation be authorised to conduct inspections, Mr Trump said Iran would have to cooperate with the group "or somebody that we respect, including ourselves".
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