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The IAEA has released a new assessment confirming that Iran’s nuclear facilities sustained significant structural damage from recent US airstrikes.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, multiple media reports have questioned whether the US airstrikes truly crippled Iran’s nuclear program, citing details from a leaked US intelligence assessment. These reports suggested that while the strikes inflicted visible structural damage, they may not have significantly degraded Iran’s ability to resume uranium enrichment in the long term. The leaked intel raised doubts about the effectiveness of the operation, indicating that key infrastructure (especially deeply buried centrifuge equipment) may have survived or could be restored more quickly than originally claimed. In response, the White House pushed back, vowing that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” the targeted facilities and set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions by decades.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has confirmed that Iran’s nuclear facilities suffered “enormous damage” following recent US airstrikes, though he stopped short of endorsing claims of total destruction. “I think ‘annihilated’ is too much, but it has suffered enormous damage,” Grossi told French broadcaster RFI. He added, “Obviously, you have to go to the site and that is not easy, there is debris and it is no longer an operational facility.“
Grossi also revealed that new satellite imagery has shown additional, previously undetected damage, particularly at Fordow and Natanz. At Fordow, bunker-buster bombs damaged access roads and one of the entrances to the deeply buried facility. At Natanz, inspectors identified two large impact holes directly above underground enrichment and storage halls. Based on the agency’s knowledge of the site’s layout, Grossi warned the strikes may have caused “localized contamination and chemical hazards,” although he stressed that “there has been no radiological impact” to the public so far.
He warned that the full extent of chemical or environmental damage cannot be known until the IAEA regains physical access to the facilities — something that seems unlikely after Iranian lawmakers voted to withdraw from the agency. In a letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Grossi stressed that “resuming cooperation with the IAEA is key to a successful diplomatic agreement to finally resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities.”
This all comes as the IAEA is still raising concerns about the disappearance of nearly 900 pounds of uranium enriched to 60%, which has been unaccounted for since Israeli airstrikes began on June 13. Grossi stated plainly, “We do not have information of the whereabouts of this material.” According to Iranian officials, the uranium was moved for “protective measures,” though they have not specified its current location or provided any verifiable documentation.
