IAEA expresses concern over Iranian underground uranium-enrichment plant

Detailed summary

The ​UN ​nuclear ⁠watchdog says it is becoming “increasingly ⁠concerned” about ​an underground uranium enrichment plant ⁠at Isfahan that Iran declared last year ⁠but has ​not…

The ​UN ​nuclear ⁠watchdog says it is becoming “increasingly ⁠concerned” about ​an underground uranium enrichment plant ⁠at Isfahan that Iran declared last year ⁠but has ​not ⁠allowed any inspections.

“The agency does not know IFEP's [Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant] exact location, status for safeguards purposes or ​whether ‌it ⁠contains nuclear ​material,” the International ​Atomic ‌Energy Agency ⁠said in a confidential report.

The agency was unable to determine whether any nuclear material had been diverted from peaceful activities, according to the 13-page document circulated in Vienna on Friday.

Iran's uranium stockpile probably intact in Isfahan, IAEA's Grossi says

Agency monitors have been barred from viewing Iran's uranium enrichment sites since the US and Israel conducted joint strikes in June last year. US President Donald Trump said Iran's nuclear programme was “obliterated” by those strikes. However, it is not clear what happened to the more than 400kg of near weapons-grade enriched uranium that the agency estimates Iran had produced before the attacks.

“It is more than a year since the agency lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the previously declared inventories of highly enriched uranium,” its Director General Rafael Grossi wrote in the report, which was seen by Bloomberg News. “The agency is not able to conclude that there has been no diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful nuclear activities.”

Iran's national security chief Mohsen Rezaei said the country ​would ⁠not ⁠allow "​a single particle” ⁠of enriched nuclear material ⁠to leave ​the country. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also asked the agency and the UN to condemn a US offer of a $20 million reward for information on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The US State Department said the reward was for details on Iran's nuclear facilities, equipment and associated personnel, including scientists and their whereabouts.

Washington has said ​the nuclear ‌issue ⁠must be ​part ​of ‌any…

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