IAEA says entrances to tunnels at Iran's Isfahan site hit by US strike
Satellite image shows a close up view of destroyed buildings at Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, after it was hit by U.S. airstrikes, in Isfahan, Iran, June 22, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO.
Satellite image shows a close up view of buildings at Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, before it was hit by U.S. airstrikes, in Isfahan, Iran, June 16, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO.
IAEA says entrances to tunnels at Iran's Isfahan site hit by US strike
VIENNA - Entrances to tunnels used to store part of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile at the sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex were hit in U.S. military strikes overnight, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sunday.
"We have established that entrances to underground tunnels at the site were impacted," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Officials have previously said much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium was stored underground at Isfahan.
In a statement to the U.N. Security Council soon after the IAEA statement was issued, the agency's chief Rafael Grossi appeared to confirm the tunnels hit were part of the area used for the storage of that stockpile.
"Entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit," he said, referring to Isfahan.
Iranian officials have said measures would be taken to protect the country's nuclear material without informing the IAEA. Grossi said Iran could do that in a way that respects its so-called safeguards obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"Any special measures by Iran to protect its nuclear materials and equipment can be done in accordance with Iran's safeguards obligations and the agency. This is possible," Grossi told the Security Council. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
31 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Russia may be ‘a friend' of Iran, but Moscow seems unlikely to offer Tehran much help
There's little sign that Russia will provide military aid to Iran as it prioritises the Ukraine war. PHOTO: REUTERS Russia may be 'a friend' of Iran, but Moscow seems unlikely to offer Tehran much help Follow our live coverage here. The Iranian foreign minister said on June 22 that he was heading to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin on June 23, as Iran weighed a response to a wave of US strikes on its nuclear sites. There was little sign that Russia was prepared to provide military assistance to Iran, its closest remaining Middle East ally, as it prioritised its own war against Ukraine. Iran has not received concrete support from any allies through 10 days of war with Israel. In announcing the trip to Moscow, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Russia 'a friend of Iran' and said that the two countries 'enjoy a strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions'. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the American military intervention in Iran, saying it had undermined global efforts to contain the proliferation of nuclear weapons. But the Kremlin has not publicly commented on the attacks, and it has not announced any tangible steps to help Iran. The guarded reaction reflects Mr Putin's limited resources, with Russia in its fourth year of war in Ukraine. Russia is trying to maintain warm relations with Iran's Middle Eastern rivals, including Saudi Arabia. The Kremlin is also likely to tread carefully on issues that may alienate US President Donald Trump, whose support – or, at least, acquiescence – it needs to secure a peace deal in Ukraine on its own terms. In addition, Russia has benefited from a rise in oil prices caused by the growing unrest in the Middle East. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
China says US attack on Iran has damaged its credibility
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shakes hands with China's Permanent Representative to the UN Fu Cong before a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following US attack on Iran's nuclear sites, at UN headquarters in New York City on June 22. PHOTO: REUTERS China says US attack on Iran has damaged its credibility BEIJING - China said the United States' attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has damaged its credibility and it was concerned that the situation 'may go out of control', its state broadcaster reported, following a UN Security Council meeting on June 22. President Donald Trump said the US had 'obliterated' Tehran's key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. The UN Security Council met on June 22 to discuss US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East. China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong said parties should restrain 'the impulse of force, avoid exacerbating conflicts and adding fuel to the fire,' according to the state broadcaster CCTV. Mr Fu said parties, especially Israel, 'should immediately cease fire to prevent the situation from escalating and avoid the spillover of war'. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Iran threatens US bases in response to strikes on nuclear sites
International concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Iran threatens US bases in response to strikes on nuclear sites WASHINGTON - Iran on June 22 threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear programme, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was unclear. International concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran earlier this month. Mr Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces could be attacked in retaliation. 'Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces,' he said in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency. 'America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences.' President Donald Trump urged Iran to end the conflict after he launched surprise strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz. 'We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)' he said on social media. And while the US president did not directly advocate regime change in the Islamic republic, he openly played with the idea – even after his aides stressed that was not a goal of American intervention. 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. 'But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing earlier that Iran's nuclear programme had been 'devastated', adding the operation 'did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people'. Standing beside Mr Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that while it would be 'way too early' for him to determine the level of destruction, 'initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction'. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said his country's military strikes will 'finish' once the stated objectives of destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities have been achieved. 'We are very, very close to completing them,' he told reporters. Tehran protests As Iran's leaders struck defiant tones, President Masoud Pezeshkian also vowed that the United States would 'receive a response' to the attacks. People gathered on June 22 in central Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans. In the province of Semnan east of the capital, 46-year-old housewife Samireh told AFP she was 'truly shocked' by the strikes. 'Semnan province is very far from the nuclear facilities targeted, but I'm very concerned for the people who live near,' she said. In an address to the nation hours after the attack, Mr Trump claimed success for the operation, and Vice President JD Vance followed up on June 22 morning. 'We know that we set the Iranian nuclear programme back substantially last night,' Mr Vance told ABC. But he also suggested Iran still had its highly enriched uranium. 'We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel,' he said. 'They no longer have the capacity to turn that stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons-grade uranium.' Another Khamenei advisor, Mr Ali Shamkhani, said in a post on X that 'even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn't over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain'. Mr Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordo facility, but no one had been able to assess the underground damage. He added that attacks on nuclear facilities could cause radiation leaks, but the IAEA had not detected any. Retaliation risk Israel's military was checking results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was uncertain if Iran had already removed enriched uranium from the site. The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers that flew 18 hours from the American mainland to Iran. Mr Trump said on June 22 that the planes had landed safely on US soil after the marathon mission. In response to the attack, which used over a dozen massive 'bunker buster' bombs, Iran's armed forces targeted sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, with at least 23 people wounded. Nine members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed on June 22 in Israeli attacks on central Iran, local media reported, while three people were killed after an ambulance was also struck. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people so far, Iran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticised the US strikes and called for de-escalation. French President Emmanuel Macron on June 22 warned against an 'uncontrolled escalation' in the Middle East, as he and his German and British counterparts called on Tehran 'not to take any further action that could destabilise the region'. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.