https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news...s-06-23-25-intl-hnk#cmc8z69ae001h3b6qo3nlxiqv
1 hr 25 min ago
UN nuclear watchdog chief is not sure where Iran has stashed its stockpile of enriched uranium
From CNN’s Christian Edwards
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrives for an IAEA Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on Monday.
Christian Bruna/Getty Images
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was unable to confirm the whereabouts of Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade nuclear material, urging that inspectors be allowed to return safely to the country “to assess the situation.”
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Grossi said that Iran has stored around 400 kilograms (880 lbs) of uranium enriched to 60%, not far from the 90% enrichment required to make a nuclear weapon.
“Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material,” Grossi said.
Speaking to board of governors of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog on Monday, Grossi said that inspectors must be able “to go back to Iran’s nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400 kilograms enriched to 60%.”
IAEA inspectors last saw the stockpile on June 10, Grossi told CNN, just three days before Israel struck Iran, mostly targeting the country’s nuclear facilities at Isfahan and Natanz. The United States joined Israel’s attacks on Sunday, striking those two sites as well as the Fordow enrichment plant, which is buried deep in a mountain.
In his statement to the IAEA board, Grossi said that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told him on June 13 — shortly after Israel’s initial attack — that Iran will “adopt special measures to protect our nuclear equipment and materials.”
Grossi said he had stressed to Araghchi that Iran must declare to the IAEA where it is transferring any nuclear material.
Grossi also called for an end to the fighting so that “Iran can let IAEA teams into the sites to assess the situation.”