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Free Malaysia Today
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
IAEA chief confirms Isfahan as Iran's new uranium enrichment site
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi says Iran's announcement of the new site was part of its retaliation against the agency. (EPA Images pic) VIENNA : UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday identified Isfahan, home to one of Iran's biggest nuclear facilities, as the location of a uranium enrichment plant that Iran said it would soon open in retaliation for a diplomatic push against it. The day before Israel launched its military strikes against Iranian targets including nuclear facilities last Friday, Iran announced it had built a new uranium enrichment facility, which it would soon equip and bring online. Tehran did not provide details such as the plant's location. Iran's announcement was part of its retaliation against a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Tehran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations over issues including its failure to credibly explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites. Had it gone online, the new enrichment plant would have been the fourth in operation in Iran. But Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities destroyed one of those plants and put another out of action by killing its power supply, the IAEA has said. 'There was an announcement, quite coincidentally, on the eve of the start of the military operation by Israel of a new enrichment facility in Isfahan, precisely, that we were going to be inspecting immediately, but this inspection had to be postponed, we hope, because of the start of the military operation,' Grossi said. He did not say where exactly in Isfahan the planned plant was, but he said the nuclear complex there is 'huge'. The IAEA has previously reported that Israeli military strikes on Friday damaged four buildings at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility that transforms 'yellowcake' uranium into the uranium hexafluoride feedstock for centrifuges so that it can be enriched. Grossi told the BBC on Monday that the 'underground spaces' at Isfahan did not seem to have been affected. Officials say those spaces are also where much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium stock has been stored. The IAEA has not, however, been able to carry out any inspections since the strikes.
Arab News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
IAEA chief identifies Isfahan as Iran's planned uranium enrichment site
VIENNA: UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday identified Isfahan, home to one of Iran's biggest nuclear facilities, as the location of a uranium enrichment plant that Iran said it would soon open in retaliation for a diplomatic push against it. The day before Israel launched its military strikes against Iranian targets including nuclear facilities last Friday, Iran announced it had built a new uranium enrichment facility, which it would soon equip and bring online. Tehran did not provide details such as the plant's location. Iran's announcement was part of its retaliation against a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Tehran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations over issues including its failure to credibly explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites. Had it gone online, the new enrichment plant would have been the fourth in operation in Iran. But Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities destroyed one of those plants and put another out of action by killing its power supply, the IAEA has said. 'There was an announcement, quite coincidentally, on the eve of the start of the military operation by Israel of a new enrichment facility in Isfahan, precisely, that we were going to be inspecting immediately, but this inspection had to be postponed, we hope, because of the start of the military operation,' Grossi said. He did not say where exactly in Isfahan the planned plant was, but he said the nuclear complex there is 'huge.' The IAEA has previously reported that Israeli military strikes on Friday damaged four buildings at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility that transforms 'yellowcake' uranium into the uranium hexafluoride feedstock for centrifuges so that it can be enriched. Grossi told the BBC on Monday that the 'underground spaces' at Isfahan did not seem to have been affected. Officials say those spaces are also where much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium stock has been stored. The IAEA has not, however, been able to carry out any inspections since the strikes.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Strike Directly Hit Iran's Natanz Underground Enrichment Plant, IAEA says
An Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear complex at Natanz directly hit the underground uranium enrichment plant there, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday, revising its assessment after initially reporting it had been hit only indirectly. Since Israel's launched wide-ranging attacks on Iran on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency has been providing updates on its assessment of the damage to nuclear sites, although it has not been able to carry out inspections. The IAEA had previously said an above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz was destroyed but the larger underground plant was not directly hit, although IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday its centrifuges had very likely been badly damaged by a strike on the plant's power supply. However, on Tuesday it said on X: "Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday's attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz." It said there was "no change to report" at Iran's two other major nuclear sites, Isfahan and Fordo. Grossi had said on Monday there was little or no apparent damage at Fordo, where Iran has enriched uranium up to 60%, close to the 90% weapons grade, at a plant dug deep into a mountain. At the Isfahan nuclear complex, several facilities were destroyed, including Iran's plant that converted uranium into a form into which it could be fed into centrifuges for enrichment, the IAEA has reported.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
What to Know About the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as Iran Mulls Exit
Iran could be poised to withdraw from an international accord that seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. This follows growing tensions with the United Nations' atomic watchdog, compounded by Israel's attacks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Should Iran pull out of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, it would reduce the chances of a diplomatic solution to Tehran's atomic ambitions and be a serious blow to global arms-control efforts.
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 days ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
IAEA Chief Says No Further Damage at Iranian Enrichment Facilities
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi provided an update on Monday on the situation at Iran's nuclear facilities after Israel launched military strikes and said there was no sign of further damage at the Natanz or Fordow enrichment sites. Grossi and the International Atomic Energy Agency he heads had previously reported that the smallest of Iran's three enrichment plants, an above-ground pilot plant at the sprawling Natanz nuclear complex, had been destroyed. While there was no sign of a physical attack on the bigger underground enrichment plant at Natanz, its power supply was destroyed, which may have damaged the uranium-enriching centrifuges there. No damage was seen at the Fordow plant dug into a mountain. "There has been no additional damage at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant site since the Friday attack, which destroyed the above-ground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant," Grossi said in a statement to an exceptional meeting of his agency's 35-nation Board of Governors. Having said over the weekend that Israeli strikes damaged four buildings at the Isfahan nuclear facilities including the uranium conversion facility that processes "yellowcake" uranium into uranium hexafluoride, the feedstock for centrifuges, so it can be enriched, he elaborated on the damage there. "At the Esfahan nuclear site, four buildings were damaged in Friday's attack: the central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and the UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) to EU metal processing facility, which was under construction," he said. "The (International Atomic Energy) Agency is and will remain present in Iran. Safeguards inspections in Iran will continue as soon as safety conditions allow, as is required under Iran's NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) safeguards obligations," he added.
