International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has warned Iran would likely be able to resume producing enriched uranium within months, despite damage to several nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Saturday noted that despite damage from attacks, the Islamic republic’s nuclear infrastructure is “still standing” and it can revert to their previous capabilities in “a matter of months.”
The Middle East was rattled over the last few weeks after Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, targeting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities on June 13, saying it was aimed at keeping Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition the Islamic republic has consistently denied.
The United States subsequently joined Israel in bombing three key facilities used for Tehran’s atomic program, with the US President Donald Trump claiming the sites were completely “obliterated”, insisting Iran’s nuclear program had been set back “decades”.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also acknowledged that the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites is “serious”, but the details are unknown.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 in an interview with CBS News Friday.
“Iran had a very vast ambitious program, and part of it may still be there, and if not, there is also the self-evident truth that the knowledge is there. The industrial capacity is there. Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology, as is obvious,” he added.
Another key question is whether Iran was able to relocate some or all of its estimated 408.6-kilo (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.”
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