IAEA: Iran Poised to Restart Uranium Enrichment Within Months
(MENAFN) Following recent US attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Iran is expected to restart uranium enrichment within months, according to Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“They can have … in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” Grossi stated in an interview released Saturday by media.
Grossi stated that the US strikes caused “severe damage, but it's not total damage,” noting that Iran retains “the capacities there, industrial and technological capacities. So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.”
On June 22, the US deployed six bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s Fordo nuclear site and launched multiple cruise missile assaults on facilities in Natanz and Isfahan as part of its intensified campaign against Tehran’s nuclear program.
In response to the attacks, the Trump administration disputed reports suggesting Iran’s nuclear progress was only delayed by several months rather than being “obliterated,” as originally claimed by the US government.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted the recent US and Israeli strikes caused “excessive and serious” damage to the country’s nuclear infrastructure.
Grossi further explained, “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. So you cannot disinvent this.”
The IAEA also uncovered unexplained uranium traces at undeclared Iranian sites but has yet to receive credible explanations regarding their source or whereabouts.
Regarding Iran’s 408.6-kilogram (901-pound) stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%—enough to fuel over nine nuclear weapons if further refined—Grossi said: “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 emphasized the urgent need for Iran to permit inspectors to resume monitoring activities immediately.
On Saturday, Araghchi announced Iran would prohibit Grossi from entering the country—a decision sharply criticized by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Tensions escalated on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian military, nuclear, and civilian targets, resulting in at least 606 deaths and over 5,300 injuries, according to Iran’s Health Ministry.
In retaliation, Tehran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel, killing at least 29 and injuring more than 3,400, per data from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The 12-day conflict concluded with a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect on June 24.
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