The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it cannot determine the size, location or status of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile because inspectors have not been able to access facilities affected by last June’s war.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it remains unable to verify key details about Iran’s nuclear program after inspectors were blocked from examining nuclear sites affected during last June’s war, according to a confidential report circulated to member states and seen Thursday.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said in the report that it “cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran or whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” according to the Associated Press.
The agency warned that the lack of access has left it “unable to discharge its safeguards responsibilities” under Iran’s Safeguards Agreement connected to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The report said it is “indispensable and urgent” for Tehran to meet its treaty obligations.
Since the IAEA’s last report in February, inspectors have visited only one Iranian nuclear site: the Bushehr nuclear power plant. That inspection took place June 1-3. The operating reactor at Bushehr uses uranium supplied by Russia and enriched to 4.5%, a low level used for civilian power generation.
The report was issued as the Middle East remains under strain from the ongoing conflict involving Iran, the United States and Iran-backed forces in the region.
On Wednesday, Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger terminal at Kuwait’s main airport, killing one person, injuring dozens and briefly forcing the airfield to close. The attack came amid a series of exchanges between Iran and the United States that have tested a fragile ceasefire.
The IAEA said Iran has a stockpile of 972 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60% purity. That level remains below the 90% generally considered weapons grade, but it is close enough that the remaining enrichment step is technical and relatively short.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a recent AP interview that Iran’s stockpile could be sufficient for as many as 10 nuclear bombs if Tehran chose to weaponize its program. Grossi also said that assessment does not mean Iran currently has a nuclear weapon.
Under IAEA guidelines, nuclear material enriched to such levels should normally be verified every month. The agency’s inability to conduct that verification has left inspectors without reliable information on whether Iran has continued enrichment-related work or where its enriched uranium is being held.
The report said Grossi reiterated his “full support to the negotiations underway aimed at finding a mutually acceptable solution to issues related to Iran’s nuclear program and his readiness … to support an eventual agreement.”
Those talks have continued for weeks as mediators try to secure a longer-term truce in a war now in its fourth month. The negotiations have been complicated by Israel’s expanding conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
The broader conflict has also continued to affect international energy markets. Iran maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for oil, natural gas and related products such as fertilizer, while the United States continues its blockade of Iranian ports.
Fuel prices remain elevated as the fighting and maritime restrictions continue to ripple beyond the region, adding urgency to diplomatic efforts aimed at limiting the conflict and restoring oversight of Iran’s nuclear program.
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