IAEA cannot verify Iran's declared Isfahan enrichment plant
The watchdog says it does not know the site's location or whether it holds nuclear material, and that Iran has not shown inspectors the design plans.
Iran has not allowed inspectors into a uranium enrichment plant it declared at Isfahan in June 2025, and the International Atomic Energy Agency says it does not know the site's exact location, its status, or whether it contains nuclear material. The agency described the gap as a matter of "serious proliferation concern" that "needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency".
The finding came in a confidential report to member states, released on Friday and seen by Reuters. The plant, the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant, was declared to the IAEA on 12 June 2025, a day before Israel began attacking Iran's nuclear sites. The United States joined the strikes later that month. The IAEA had planned to inspect the site on 13 June 2025, the day the bombing started, which made the visit impossible, CNA reported.
The 12-day campaign destroyed or badly damaged Iran's other enrichment plants, the core of its nuclear programme, according to CNA. Inspectors have not been allowed back to any of the bombed sites. The BBC reported that the IAEA made a similar appeal almost a year ago, when it said it had inspected only some of the 13 nuclear facilities left unaffected by the attacks and none of the seven that were hit.
The IAEA also wants Iran to declare the status of its enrichment plants and its stock of highly enriched uranium, some of it close to weapons grade. Rafael Grossi, the agency's director general, said in March that it believed a significant amount of Iran's most highly enriched uranium was in the tunnel complex at Isfahan, CNA reported. Diplomats have said they believe the declared plant sits inside that tunnel network; a senior diplomat said its whereabouts and status remained unknown.
Before the June 2025 strikes, Iran had accumulated an estimated 441kg of uranium enriched to 60%, beyond the 300kg and 3.67% purity limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal, limits Iran had already exceeded, the BBC reported. The Isfahan complex was extensively damaged in the strikes, particularly above ground; the state of its underground facilities is not clear.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful civilian purposes and denies seeking a weapon. The US and Israel said they attacked the nuclear sites to prevent Iran from developing one.
Iran's security chief said Iran would not allow enriched nuclear material to leave the country, Reuters reported.
How the reports differ
BBC News and CBC led on the IAEA's concern about the plant; the BBC alone gave the stockpile figures, an estimated 441kg enriched to 60% against the 2015 deal's 300kg and 3.67% limits. CNA, reporting from Vienna, was alone in saying the IAEA had planned to inspect the site on 13 June 2025, the day the bombing began, and in quoting a senior diplomat who said the plant's whereabouts and status were still unknown. CNA described the document as a confidential report released on Friday and seen by Reuters, while the BBC described a report seen by news agencies. Reuters and The Hindu led instead on a statement by Iran's security chief that enriched nuclear material would not leave the country.
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