Rafael Grossi, the head of the international atomic energy agency IAEA, expects that Iran can enrich uranium again within a few months. According to him, the damage to Iranian nuclear facilities after the American bombings is not as great as US President Donald Trump claims.
The bombings have caused “serious, but not total damage” to the nuclear facilities in Iran, Grossi told CBS News on Saturday. Trump claimed after the bombings last week that the Iranian nuclear program was destroyed. Whether that is true is still unclear.
The Americans decided to carry out the bombings for fear that Iran would develop a nuclear bomb. According to Trump, the development thereof has been thrown back years.
“Honestly, you can’t claim that everything is gone and there is nothing left,” Grossi said. He thinks that Iran still has the industrial and technological capabilities to start the program in a short time.
“Within a few months, Iran can have some parts of nuclear centrifuges running and thus produce enriched uranium,” Grossi continued. Enriched uranium is the necessary raw material for nuclear energy, but also for nuclear weapons.
Grossi is not the first to doubt Trump’s claims. American intelligence agencies also think that the nuclear program has only been thrown back a few months. This is evident from a defense report that leaked via CNN and The New York Times.
Iran shared no concrete information about damage
Little concrete information about the damage has become known from Iran. However, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that there was “serious damage”.
It is also unclear whether Iran was able to move enriched uranium before the American attacks. There are stories circulating about this, which have not been confirmed.
“We don’t know where the material might be. It could be completely destroyed, or some may have been moved,” Grossi said. That is why he believes it is important that Iran shares information about this and that Iran allows visits from IAEA inspectors.
Iran seems less enthusiastic about allowing inspectors back in. The Iranian parliament voted on Wednesday to end cooperation with the IAEA.
But Iran has not yet reported anything about the end of the cooperation to the IAEA. As long as the cooperation has not been officially terminated, Grossi is therefore hopeful that inspectors will still be able to travel to Iran soon.