SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Where is Iran's uranium? Questions abound after US strikes
Vienna, June 23 (AFP) Jun 23, 2025
After President Donald Trump bragged US strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities, officials cautioned it was still too soon to assess the impact on the country's nuclear programme.

Many questions remain after Sunday's strikes, especially about the whereabouts of Iran's sensitive stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent -- a short step from the 90 percent required for a nuclear weapon.


- Where is Iran's enriched uranium? -


The US attacks, carried out by B-2 stealth bombers, targeted three Iranian nuclear sites: Isfahan and Iran's main enrichment plants in Fordo and Natanz.

While significant damage has been reported, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has voiced concern about Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium.

Tehran has an estimated 408.6 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent, according to the UN nuclear watchdog, whose inspectors last saw that stockpile on June 10.

That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs.

IAEA head Rafael Grossi on Monday demanded access to Iran's nuclear sites, saying the agency needs to "account for" the uranium stockpile.

Concerns about the fate of the sensitive stockpile have loomed large. On June 13, the day Israel began its Iran offensive, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to the IAEA, announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and material".

Days before the US attacked, satellite imagery showed vehicles near Fordo's entrance.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "interesting intelligence" on the matter, declining to elaborate.

Israel announced Monday it had carried out strikes to block access routes to Fordo.

"It will be difficult if not impossible to track down all of Iran's 60 percent enriched uranium, stored in small canisters that are easily transportable by car," Kelsey Davenport, an expert with the Arms Control Association, told AFP.

"They (Iranians) no longer have the capacity to turn that stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons-grade uranium, and that was really the goal there," US Vice President JD Vance told ABC News.

He added the Trump administration would deal with the uranium "in the coming weeks".


- Can Iran still make a nuclear bomb? -


Analysts have been treading carefully when addressing this issue.

Before the attacks, Iran had about 22,000 centrifuges -- the machines used to enrich uranium. Many of them were damaged when Natanz was hit, the IAEA head said.

Grossi also said "very significant damage" is expected to have occurred at Fordo, "given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges".

Experts however say that it is unclear how many centrifuges Iran has, with some of them believed to be stored at unknown locations.

With "60 percent enriched uranium and a few hundred advanced centrifuges, Iran still has the capability to weaponise, and now there is more political impetus to dash for a bomb", said Davenport.


- What are the proliferation risks? -


Before the conflict, the IAEA said it had "no indication" of the existence of a "systematic programme" in Iran to produce a nuclear weapon. But without access to nuclear sites, the agency no longer has oversight.

Grossi warned Monday that the "global non-proliferation regime that has underpinned international security... could crumble and fall", urging parties to return to diplomacy.

Iran ratified the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) in 1970, committing it to declare its nuclear material to the IAEA. But it has recently begun preparing the grounds for a possible withdrawal from the treaty, accusing the agency of acting as a "partner" in Israel's "war of aggression".

Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, said Monday the "unlawful act of aggression" by the United States had "delivered a fundamental and irreparable blow" to the non-proliferation regime.

"I do think there is a major risk that Iran withdraws from the NPT and expels inspectors, or simply does not provide them with access to key sites," said Eric Brewer of the US research institute Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).

He added that Iran could also "over time, build (a) covert" programme like North Korea, which withdrew from the NPT in 2003 and went on to become a nuclear-armed power.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Chinese researchers craft high fidelity Mars soil simulant to support future missions
Ancient river systems reveal Mars was wetter than we thought
NASA's Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun

24/7 Energy News Coverage
One billion Africans being harmed by cooking pollution
US reaches civil nuclear cooperation accord with Bahrain
American firms flag hit from US export controls targeting China

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
China, India should work towards 'win-win' cooperation: Chinese FM
US delays Patriot arms deliveries to Switzerland in switch to Ukraine
US 'moving at haste' to get Ukraine weapons: envoy

24/7 News Coverage
New deep sea mining rules lack consensus despite US pressure
Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India
From Antarctica to Brussels, hunting climate clues in old ice



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.