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How much damage has Israel inflicted on Iran's nuclear programme? Vienna, June 17 (AFP) Jun 17, 2025 Israel's strikes on Iran have targeted several of its nuclear facilities as it claims the country is seeking to develop nuclear weapons -- an accusation Tehran denies. Experts told AFP that while the attacks had caused some damage to Iran's nuclear programme, they are unlikely to have delivered a fatal blow. Here is an update on Iran's nuclear sites as of Tuesday.
A key, above-ground component of Iran's Natanz nuclear site has been destroyed, including its power infrastructure, the IAEA reported Monday. The UN watchdog added Tuesday that satellite images indicated possible "direct impacts" on the underground section of the plant, where thousands of centrifuges are operating to enrich uranium. At the underground Fordow enrichment plant, Iran's second uranium enrichment facility, the IAEA said it observed "no damage" following the attacks. At the Isfahan nuclear site, however, "four buildings were damaged" -- the central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and a metal processing facility under construction, the IAEA said. Significant uranium stockpiles are believed to be stored around the Isfahan site. Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group's Iran project director, told AFP that if Iran managed to transfer significant quantities to "secret facilities," then "the game is lost for Israel". Iran's only nuclear power plant, the Bushehr plant, was not targeted, nor was the Tehran research reactor.
Destroying those would require US military assistance, added Kelsey Davenport, an expert with the Arms Control Association. She also noted that Israel's unprecedented attack would not erase the expertise Iran had built up on nuclear weapons, despite killing nine Iranian nuclear scientists.
"There is very little risk that attacks on Iran's uranium enrichment facilities would result in a harmful radiation release," Davenport said. But an attack on the Bushehr plant could "have a serious impact on health and the environment", she said. After Israel launched its strikes, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that nuclear facilities "must never be attacked" and that targeting Iranian sites could have "grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond".
As of mid-May, the country had an estimated 408.6 kilogrammes (900 pounds) enriched to up to 60 percent -- just a short step from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Iran theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for about 10 nuclear bombs, according to the definition by the Vienna-based IAEA. Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed state producing uranium to this level of enrichment, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.
Tehran has consistently denied ambitions to develop nuclear warheads. But Davenport warned that the strikes could strengthen factions in Iran advocating for an atomic arsenal. "Israel's strikes set Iran back technically, but politically the strikes are pushing Iran closer to nuclear weapons," she said.
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