The head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency says at least some of the highly enriched uranium produced by Iranian nuclear scientists may have been moved in time to keep it safe from the recent Israeli and American air strikes.
Speaking to CBS News’ “Face the Nation” anchor Margaret Brennan, IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said in an interview Saturday night that some of the enriched uranium “could have been destroyed” during the attacks, “but some could have been moved.”
Nearly a week after the US bombing raid on Iran’s top three nuclear facilities, there is still no definitive information about the whereabouts of approximately 400 kilos (900 pounds) of highly enriched uranium that Iran claims was removed ahead of the strikes.
The uranium, enriched to 60 percent purity, was just a short step away from processing into 90 percent weapons-grade purity.
Part of the Iranian nuclear project could still be viable, Grossi warned.
But even if not, “there’s also the self-evident truth that the knowledge is there. The industrial capacity is there,” he said.
Grossi maintains that the Iranian nuclear threat cannot be resolved in a military operation, and said during the interview that a diplomatic agreement is the only way to ensure Iran will not create a nuclear weapon.
“You are going to have to have an inspection system that will give everybody – everybody – in the region and elsewhere, the assurances that we can definitely turn the page,” he said.
“The work will have to continue. Otherwise, nobody will have any idea of what is happening in Iran. Iran will continue with a nuclear program, the contours of which are still to be seen,” he added.
Grossi did not address the fact that IAEA inspectors were denied access to undeclared nuclear production sites by the Iranian government for years.
Nor did he address the fact that the IAEA Board of Governors recently cited Iran for its lack of cooperation with the agency, a step that will likely be followed by a referral to the UN Security Agency. Such a move is ultimately destined to trigger snapback sanctions against the Islamic Republic with a mechanism that would have expired this October.
