IAEA chief expects 'very significant damage' at Iran's Fordow site

STORY: :: The UN's nuclear watchdog expects significant damage at Iran's Fordow enrichment site after the U.S. bombing

:: Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director General

:: June 23, 2025

:: Vienna, Austria

"At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow. Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred.

"Let me again recall past General Conference resolutions that state that armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the state which has been attacked. I therefore again call on maximum restraint. Military escalation not only threatens lives, it also delays us from taking the diplomatic path.

"To achieve the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, and for the continued effectiveness of the global non-proliferation regime, we must return to negotiations."

The United States dropped the biggest conventional bombs in its arsenal on Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday (June 22), using those bunker-busting munitions in combat for the first time to try to eliminate sites including the Fordow uranium-enrichment plant dug into a mountain.

The IAEA has not been able to carry out inspections in Iran since Israel started its military strikes on nuclear facilities there on June 13.

Beyond the level of damage done to Fordow's underground enrichment halls, one of the biggest open questions is the status of its stock of enriched uranium, particularly its more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from the roughly 90% that is weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick, though Iran says its intentions are peaceful and it does not seek atom bombs.

Iran did, however, inform the IAEA on June 13 that it would take "special measures" to protect its nuclear materials and equipment that are under so-called IAEA safeguards, the oversight provided for by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Grossi said.