Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said that Iran could likely resume enriching uranium within a few months despite the US and Israeli attacks on its nuclear facilities.
“They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” Grossi told CBS News. He also acknowledged that the fate of Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched at 60% is unclear.
President Trump has insisted that Iran’s nuclear facilities have been “obliterated” and that the bombing campaign set back the nuclear program decades, but he is also threatening to bomb Iran again if it moves to restart its uranium enrichment program.
When asked on Friday if he would bomb the country again if it enriched at a level that “concerned” him, Trump replied, “Sure, without question.” He also said he wasn’t concerned about any “secret” Iranian nuclear sites.
In the wake of the bombing campaign, Iran has taken steps to reduce oversight on its nuclear program and suspend cooperation with the IAEA. Iranian officials have criticized the IAEA and Grossi for their role in the events leading up to the war and the lack of condemnation of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites, and have rejected Grossi’s request to visit the bombed sites.
“The IAEA and its Director-General are fully responsible for this sordid state of affairs. [Grossi’s] insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X on Friday.
The IAEA and the US had no evidence that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapon before Israel launched its war on June 13, but both parties hyped the threat of Iran’s nuclear program even though Tehran made it clear it was willing to significantly reduce its uranium enrichment levels as part of a deal with the US for sanctions relief.
Iran has also alleged that Israel obtained the names of Iranian nuclear scientists from the IAEA. During the 12-day war, Israel killed at least 14 Iranian nuclear scientists, including Sedighi Saber, who was killed along with 12 members of his family.
