IAEA assessment on time Iran needs to resume uranium enrichment
Photo: IAEA chief Rafael Grossi (Getty Images)
Iran may need several months to restore its uranium enrichment to previous levels despite the damage to nuclear facilities caused by US and Israeli strikes, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi and The Guardian.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, confirmed that some nuclear facilities in Iran are "still standing."
"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.
When asked about speculation that Iran may have relocated some of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, he said the IAEA does not know where the material might be.
"So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be, at some point, a clarification," Grossi added.
Background: Strikes on Iran
Israel targeted Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear facilities with drones and warplanes to prevent the regime from developing a nuclear bomb. The conflict lasted 12 days before a ceasefire was declared.
On June 22, the United States launched airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. President Donald Trump claimed the strikes had "completely destroyed" Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), recent satellite imagery suggests Iran has begun repair work at the Natanz facility.
