Iran could restart enriched uranium production ‘within months’: IAEA

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, said Iran could likely resume enriched uranium production ‘within months’ despite the damage to several nuclear facilities caused by US and Israeli strikes. He made the remarks in an interview with US media outlet CBS News on Friday (June 27). Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US and Israeli strikes had caused ‘serious’ damage to nuclear facilities. He did not give details. On the other hand, US President Donald Trump has insisted that Iran’s nuclear programme has been set back ‘decades’.

But Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said ‘something is still intact’. “I would say they could be turning on a few centrifuges in a few months and producing enriched uranium, or less,” Grossi said in an interview published Saturday.

Another important question is whether Iran was able to transfer some or all of its estimated 408.6 kilograms (900 pounds) of highly enriched uranium before the attack. “That uranium is enriched to 60 percent, which is above civilian levels but below weapons grade. If it were further refined, it would theoretically be enough to make more than nine nuclear bombs,” he said. “We don’t know where this material could be. So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack. It could have been removed. So there needs to be an explanation,” he told CBS.

For now, Iranian lawmakers have voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, and Tehran has rejected Grossi’s request to inspect the damaged facilities, particularly the main uranium enrichment facility at Fordow. “We need to be in a position to confirm what’s there and where it is and what happened,” Grossi said.