Much of Iran’s near bomb-grade uranium likely to be in Isfahan, says IAEA chief
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A satellite image showing destroyed tunnel entrances at Iran's Isfahan missile complex on March 8 after reported air strikes.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- IAEA chief Grossi reports Iran holds over 200kg of 60% enriched uranium at Isfahan, potentially enough for 10 weapons if further enriched.
- Isfahan's tunnel complex, likely undamaged by June attacks, is believed to be storing the uranium stock; no transfer has been observed.
- Iran hasn't informed the IAEA about the uranium's status since the attacks nor allowed inspectors to return to the bombed facilities.
AI generated
PARIS – Almost half of Iran’s uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity, a short step from weapons-grade, was stored in a tunnel complex in Isfahan and is probably still there, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on March 9.
The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Diplomats have long said Isfahan has been used to store 60 per cent uranium, which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed in a report to member states in February, without saying how much was there.
The IAEA estimates that when Israel launched its first attacks in June 2025, Iran had 440.9kg of 60 per cent uranium. If enriched further, that would provide the explosive needed for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
“What we believe is that Isfahan had until our last inspection a bit more than 200kg, maybe a little bit more than that, of 60 per cent uranium,” the IAEA chief told reporters in Paris.
He said the stock was mainly in Isfahan, and some held elsewhere may have been destroyed.
“The widespread assumption is that the material is still there. So, we haven’t seen – and not only us, I think in general all those observing the facility through satellite imagery and other means to see what is going on there – movement indicating that the material could have been transferred,” Mr Grossi said.
Iran has not informed the IAEA of the status or whereabouts of its highly enriched uranium since the June attacks, nor has it let IAEA inspectors return to its bombed facilities.
Iran’s nuclear programme is one reason Israel and the US have given for their current attacks on Iran, arguing that it was getting too close to being able to produce a bomb, despite US President Donald Trump saying in June that US strikes had obliterated the programme.
The IAEA has said it has no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons programme.
All three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants known to have been operating – two in Natanz and one at Fordow – were destroyed or badly damaged in June.
“There is an amount (of 60 per cent uranium) in Natanz also, which we believe is still there,” Mr Grossi said. REUTERS
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi speaking to reporters in Vienna, Austria, on March 2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
