IAEA cannot verify Iran’s uranium stockpiles after Israeli attacks

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cannot verify the status of Iran’s uranium stockpiles, which could potentially be used to produce weapons. The reason is an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. The Associated Press reported this, citing a confidential UN report.

According to the IAEA’s latest report, issued in September, Iran has a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. Uranium enriched to 90 percent is needed to make a nuclear weapon. Enriching uranium from 60 to 90 percent is a relatively small technological step. Iran has long maintained, however, that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon and that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned that Iran’s current uranium stockpile could enable it to produce as many as ten nuclear bombs if it decided to convert its programme to military use. This does not mean that Iran actually possesses a nuclear weapon, he said, according to the Associated Press.

The report also says that Iran suspended all cooperation with the agency after the 12-day war, during which Israel launched a major military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in mid-June, including targets near residential areas. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks, which also hit civilian infrastructure. The US joined the conflict on Israel’s side, striking several Iranian nuclear facilities. Tehran responded by attacking the Al Udeid US base in Qatar.

US President Donald Trump eventually declared a ceasefire on 24 June. Israel and the US say the aim of the attacks was to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Iran is required to cooperate with the IAEA. After the war ended, Tehran allowed the agency to inspect undamaged facilities but denied it access to sites hit during the fighting.

European powers decided to reimpose the so-called snapback mechanism for restoring UN sanctions after Iran refused to enter direct talks with the United States, failed to resume full cooperation with the IAEA and did not clarify the status of its uranium stockpiles.