Latest news with #enricheduranium
Russia Today
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
‘We don't know' where Iran's enriched uranium is
More than 400 kilograms of enriched uranium remains unaccounted for in Iran following Israeli and US airstrikes on key nuclear facilities, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has said. Speaking to CBS in an interview aired on Sunday, Grossi admitted that 'we don't know where this material could be, or if part of it could have been under the attack during those 12 days.' Grossi said Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity – which is shy of the 90% required to build a nuclear weapon – has effectively gone missing since Israel and the US launched strikes on the country. Some of it could have been destroyed and some could have been moved, he noted. The uranium stockpile in question has an estimated volume of roughly 400kg, a quantity the IAEA has assessed as theoretically sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs if enriched to 90%. Israel launched an attack on Iran on June 13, claiming it was on the brink of building a nuclear weapon – something which had been denied by the IAEA and US intelligence. On June 22, the US joined the Israeli campaign by striking Iran's Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities. Tehran vehemently denied the allegations and retaliated to the attacks. Last week, the conflict ended in a US-brokered ceasefire, which has so far been upheld. Grossi has claimed that despite the Israeli-US bombing campaign and significant damage to Iran's nuclear facilities, Tehran may still be capable of restarting its uranium enrichment operations 'in a matter of months.' He noted that the knowledge possessed by Iran cannot be 'disinvented.' He also stated that Iranian officials had informed the IAEA on June 13 that protective measures were being taken to safeguard nuclear assets. A Western diplomat told Reuters that most of the material at Fordow appeared to have been moved 'days in advance of the attacks,' citing satellite images showing trucks outside the site. Former IAEA inspector Olli Heinonen said the process of confirming the uranium's fate will likely be lengthy and arduous, involving forensics and environmental sampling. He warned that some of the material may be 'inaccessible, distributed under the rubble or lost during the bombing.' Meanwhile, Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA and rejected Grossi's request to inspect the damaged sites, including Fordow. The Iranian parliament voted last week to end the country's compliance with routine monitoring under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, citing the agency's failure to prevent 'unlawful' military action. US President Donald Trump has denied that Iran was able to relocate any uranium before the strikes, suggesting it was 'very dangerous' and 'very hard' to do. He also claimed that the Iranians didn't move anything because they were trying to save themselves from the attack.
ABC News
a day ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Iran could resume enriching uranium within months, UN nuclear watchdog boss says
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". Wires
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Iran could again enrich uranium 'in matter of months': IAEA chief
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says Iran likely will be able to begin to produce enriched uranium "in a matter of months," despite damage to several nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks, CBS News said Saturday. Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, saying it was aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition the Islamic republic has consistently denied. The US subsequently bombed three key facilities used for Tehran's atomic programme. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites is "serious," but the details are unknown. US President Donald Trump insisted Iran's nuclear programme had been set back "decades." But Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said "some is still standing." "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," Grossi said Friday, according to a transcript of the interview released Saturday. Another key question is whether Iran was able to relocate some or all of its estimated 408.6-kg (900-pound) stockpile of highly enriched uranium before the attacks. The uranium in question is enriched to 60 per cent — above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade. That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs. Grossi admitted to CBS: "We don't know where this material could be." "So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be at some point a clarification," he said in the interview. For now, Iranian lawmakers voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA and Tehran rejected Grossi's request for a visit to the damaged sites, especially Fordow, the main uranium enrichment facility. "We need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where is it and what happened," Grossi said. In a separate interview with Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures" program, Trump said he did not think the stockpile had been moved. "It's a very hard thing to do plus we didn't give much notice," he said, according to excerpts of the interview. "They didn't move anything." US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday underscored Washington's support for "the IAEA's critical verification and monitoring efforts in Iran," commending Grossi and his agency for their "dedication and professionalism." The full Grossi interview will air on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on June 29.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
White House believes no enriched uranium was removed prior to U.S. attacks on Iran
WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - There is no indication that any enriched uranium was removed from any of the three sites in Iran targeted by the U.S. in attacks on Saturday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
IAEA director says Iran's enriched uranium can't be located following US military strikes
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said his agency does not know where nearly 900 pounds of potentially enriched uranium is located, after Iranian officials said it was being removed for protective measures ahead of strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. Grossi was a guest on Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum," on Tuesday, when he was asked about the whereabouts of the enriched uranium in Iran, as well as other topics concerning the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities on Saturday. The U.S. military on Saturday carried out massive precision strikes on three key nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Grossi said Natanz was the first to be hit and sustained "very serious damage" in one of the centrifuge halls where enrichment was being carried out. Isfahan also sustained damage, he added, though nobody has been inside the halls to assess the damage. MacCallum asked Grossi about a statement in which he previously said he believed 900 pounds of potentially enriched uranium was taken to an ancient site near Isfahan. "I have to be very precise, Martha…We are the IAEA, so we are not speculating here," Grossi said. "We do not have information of the whereabouts of this material." He told the host Iran officials told him they were taking protective measures which may or may not include moving around the material. "So, it is quite obvious you are asking me about it, that there is a question there: Where is this?" Grossi said. "So, the way to asserting that is to allow the inspection activity to resume as soon as possible. And I think this would be for the benefit of all." The director would not argue with a statement from Vice President JD Vance in which he said if Iran has 60% enriched uranium, but not the ability to enrich it to 90%, they do not have the ability to convert the uranium into a nuclear weapon. "I wouldn't argue with that because 60% is not 90%," Grossi said, but more important is figuring out if the uranium was moved and where it is located. "My obligation is to account for every gram of uranium that exists in Iran and in any other country," he said, adding that the investigation is not a discriminant approach against Iran. Vance said in his statement that the mission was a success if Iran cannot convert the uranium to 90% for a nuclear weapon, and Grossi agreed with that statement, at least in terms of a military approach. But Grossi's job is different. "My job is to try to see where is this material, because Iran has an obligation to report and account for all the material that they have, and this is going to continue to be my work," Grossi said.
