Iran’s highly enriched uranium likely is still at the Isfahan site, U.N. nuclear chief tells AP

UNITED NATIONS — The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely still in the Isfahan nuclear complex, which was bombarded by airstrikes last year and faced less intense attacks in this year’s U.S.-Israeli war, the head of the U.N. nuclear agency told The Associated Press.

Rafael Grossi said in an interview Tuesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency has satellite images showing the effects of the latest U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran and that “we continue to get information.”

IAEA inspections ended in Isfahan when Israel launched a 12-day war last June in which the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog estimates that a significant percentage of Iran’s highly enriched uranium “was stored there in June 2025, when the 12-day war broke out, and it has been there ever since,” Grossi said.

“We have not been able to inspect or deny that the material is there and that the seals – those of the IAEA – remain there,” he said. “I hope we can do it, so what I’m telling you is our best guess.”

Images from an Airbus satellite show a truck loaded with 18 blue containers entering a tunnel at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center on June 9, 2025, just before the start of last year’s war. These containers, believed to contain highly enriched uranium, will likely remain there.

PHOTOS: Iran’s highly enriched uranium likely still at Isfahan site, U.N. nuclear chief tells AP

Grossi says all Iranian nuclear sites must be inspected

The IAEA also wants to inspect Iran’s Natanz and Fordo nuclear facilities, where nuclear materials are also located, the IAEA director general added.

Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the five-year review of which is underway at UN headquarters. Under these provisions, Iran is required to open its nuclear facilities to inspection by the IAEA, Grossi said.

Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short technical step compared to weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the agency. Grossi said the IAEA estimates that about 200 kilograms (about 440 pounds) are stored in the tunnels at the Isfahan site.

Iran’s stockpile could allow the country to build up to 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, Grossi told the AP last year.

Tehran has long insisted on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. President Donald Trump said one of the main reasons the United States entered the war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons, even as he insisted that last summer’s strikes had “wiped out” the country’s atomic program.

Grossi told a U.N. news conference Wednesday that Iran declared a new uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan last June and that IAEA inspectors were scheduled to travel there the day the strikes began. He said the facility was apparently not hit during the attacks on Isfahan this year or last year.

The IAEA has discussed with Russia and other countries the possibility of taking highly enriched uranium from Iran.

Grossi said the IAEA had discussed with Russia and others the possibility of sending Iran’s highly enriched uranium out of the country – a complex operation that would require either a political agreement or a major U.S. military operation in hostile territory.

Trump said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had renewed his offer to help the United States deal with Iran’s enriched uranium. Trump said he told Putin it was more important that the Russian leader “get involved in ending the war with Ukraine.”

Grossi, meanwhile, noted that “what’s going to be important is that these materials leave Iran” or are mixed to reduce their enrichment.

He said the IAEA participated in nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran in February, but did not take part in recent ceasefire negotiations mediated by Pakistan. He said the agency had held discussions separately with the United States and informally with Iran.

Trump told Axios on Wednesday that he rejected Iran’s latest proposal, which called for postponing talks on its nuclear program but ending its hold on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for oil and natural gas shipments, if the United States lifts its blockade and ends the war.

Grossi told reporters on Wednesday that Iran had a much smaller nuclear program, with only one type of centrifuge, in 2015, when it agreed to curb its nuclear program as part of a deal with six major powers. Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018.

The IAEA chief said negotiations were now “a completely different game” due to Iran’s “exponential progress” not only in uranium enrichment, but also in the use of latest generation centrifuges, different compounds and new facilities.

US-Iran deal would require ‘political will’

It would take “political will” on Tehran’s part to reach an agreement, Grossi told AP, stressing that “Iran must be convinced that it is important to negotiate.”

Iran’s leaders say they are ready to negotiate, as does the US Republican president, Grossi said, but “where the frustration appears, apparently for both, is that they can’t seem to reach an agreement, or agree on what should be done first, or how.”

Describing himself as a negotiator who likes to see a “ray of hope,” Grossi noted that “one important thing is that there is apparently an interest on both sides to reach an agreement.”

Asked if he thought the Iranians were seriously considering a deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week on Fox News Channel that they are skillful negotiators looking to buy time and that any deal must be “one that definitely prevents them from rushing toward nuclear weapons at any time.”

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AP writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.