Iran announced new nuclear enrichment site after UN watchdog ruled it failed to comply with obligations for first time in 20 years
Iran said it has built and will activate a third nuclear enrichment facility, ratcheting up tensions with the UN on Thursday immediately after its atomic watchdog agency censured Iran for failing to comply with nonproliferation obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Hours later, Israel said it had attacked Iranian nuclear targets.
As explosions were heard across Tehran early Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes would continue for as long as it would take 'to remove this threat.'
Advertisement
7 Iran announced it had built a third nuclear enrichment facility.
AFP via Getty Images
The censure by the International Atomic Energy Agency, its first in 20 years over Iranian non-compliance, could set in motion an effort to restore sanctions on Iran later this year.
'The Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution,' the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Atomic Energy Organization said in a joint statement in response to the censure.
Advertisement
US President Donald Trump had previously warned that Israel or America could launch airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiators failed to reach a deal on Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. A sixth round of Iran-US talks is scheduled to begin Sunday in Oman, and as tensions simmer some American government staffers deemed nonessential have begun leaving the Gulf region.
Trump had said Thursday he was still urging Iran to negotiate a deal, but that he was concerned a 'massive conflict' could occur in the Middle East if it does not.
'I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like it's something that could very well happen,' Trump said in response to a question from a reporter about a potential Israeli attack. 'Look, it's very simple, not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.'
Hours before Israel's attack, Trump offered guarded optimism that a conflict could still be avoided, and said he was urging Netanyahu to hold off from taking action for the time being. He later took to social media to emphasize that his 'entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran.'
Advertisement
7 A map showing the cities that Israel targeted during the first wave of Operation Rising Lion on Thursday.
7 A satellite image taken on February 12, 2025 showed an overview of the Isfahan enrichment facility.
Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies/AFP via Getty Images
'As long as I think there is a (chance for an) agreement, I don't want them going in because I think it would blow it,' Trump said in his comments to reporters.
Trump said he felt it was necessary for his administration on Wednesday to direct a voluntary evacuation of nonessential personnel and their families from some US diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.
Advertisement
'I don't want to be the one that didn't give any warning, and missiles are flying into their buildings. It's possible. So I had to do it,' he said.
7 Israel's air strikes on Iran have reportedly killed top military officials.
Storyful
Nineteen countries on the IAEA's board of governors voted for the resolution to censure Iran, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the closed-doors vote.
The resolution was put forward by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the US Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed it, while 11 abstained and two did not vote.
The resolution calls on Iran to provide answers 'without delay' in a long-running investigation into traces of uranium found at several locations Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites, according to a draft seen by The Associated Press.
Western officials suspect the uranium traces could provide further evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program until 2003.
Iran lists steps in retaliation for censure
Speaking to Iranian state television after the UN agency's vote, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that his agency immediately informed the IAEA of actions Tehran would take.
'One is the launch of a third secure site' for enrichment, spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said. He did not elaborate on the location, but the organization's chief, Mohammad Eslami, later described the site as 'already built, prepared, and located in a secure and invulnerable place.'
Advertisement
7 A handout photo made available by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) telegram channel showed a building on fire after an Israeli attack in Tehran.
IRGC telegram channel/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Another step would be replacing old centrifuges with advanced ones at an underground site at Fordo. 'Our production of enriched materials will significantly increase,' Kamalvandi said.
Iran has two underground sites, at Fordo and Natanz, and it has been building tunnels in the mountains near Natanz since suspected Israeli sabotage attacks targeted that facility.
Iran said other measures were also being planned in response to the UN agency's censure. The IAEA draft resolution said 'Iran's many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations.'
Advertisement
7 Damaged automobiles are left in the wake of Israeli airstrikes on June 13, 2025 in Tehran, Iran.
Majid Saeedi
Under those obligations, which are part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is legally bound to declare all nuclear material and activities and allow IAEA inspectors to verify that none of it is being diverted from peaceful uses.
The IAEA's draft resolution hints at reporting Iran to the UN Security Council to consider more sanctions, stressing that the global body is the 'organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.'
It also said it supports 'a diplomatic solution to the problems,' which includes the talks between the US and Iran.
Still a chance for Iran to cooperate with IAEA
Advertisement
A senior Western diplomat last week described the UN watchdog resolution as a 'serious step,' but added that Western nations are 'not closing the door to diplomacy on this issue.' However, if Iran fails to cooperate, an extraordinary IAEA board meeting will likely be held in the summer, during which another resolution could get passed that will refer the issue to the Security Council, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue with the media.
France, the UK and Germany have repeatedly threatened in the past to reinstate sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if Iran does not provide 'technically credible' answers to the UN nuclear watchdog's questions.
7 An Iranian employee was pictured working at the Nuclear Research Center in Tehran, June 1, 2005.
Getty Images
The authority to reestablish those sanctions by the complaint of any member of the original 2015 nuclear deal expires in October. That puts the West on a clock to exert pressure on Tehran over its program before losing that power.
Advertisement
Thursday's resolution follows the IAEA's so-called 'comprehensive report' that was circulated among member states last weekend. In the report, the UN nuclear watchdog said that Iran's cooperation with the agency has 'been less than satisfactory' when it comes to uranium traces discovered by agency inspectors at several locations in Iran.
One of the sites became known publicly in 2018 after Netanyahu revealed it at the United Nations and called it a clandestine nuclear warehouse hidden at a rug-cleaning plant. Iran denied this, but in 2019, IAEA inspectors detected the presence of uranium traces there as well as at two other sites.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, who campaigned on reaching out to the West, struck a harder line after the IAEA vote.
'I don't know how to cooperate with the outside world to stop them from doing evil acts and let the people live independently in this country,' Pezeshkian said. 'We will continue down our own path; we will have enrichment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
19 minutes ago
- The Hill
How Israeli strikes dealt a serious blow to Iran's nuclear ambitions
Israel's sweeping attack across Iran struck at the heart of Tehran's nuclear program, delivering a blow to the country's ability to enrich uranium and potentially setting its nuclear ambitions back by months or years. As well as killing key military figures and nuclear scientists, the Israeli strikes destroyed part of a plant that was enriching uranium to levels far beyond the requirements for nuclear-fueled power stations. The attacks also destroyed backup power for the underground section of the plant, potentially damaging more sensitive equipment. Iran's nuclear program has progressed rapidly since 2018, when the U.S. withdrew from a deal to limit Tehran's capacity to enrich uranium, which is necessary to build a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains that its program is peaceful, but the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. Nuclear regulators said the assault was unlikely to lead to increased levels of radiation, even at the site where part of the fuel-enrichment plant was destroyed. Here's a closer look at the attack and its likely effects on Iran's nuclear efforts. Israel killed top military figures and nuclear scientists and destroyed part of a key enrichment site. There is 'no question' it did substantial damage, said Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iran's nuclear program at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. David Albright, a nuclear weapons expert, speculated that the initial wave of attacks could set back any Iranian attempt to develop a nuclear weapon by about a year. A key question, Hinz said, is whether Israel also targeted suppliers of specialist components such as centrifuges and subcontractors. Israel's strategy appears to be to 'destroy the brains' behind the program and 'as much equipment as possible,' said Albright, who agreed that Israel has potentially done a 'tremendous amount of damage' to the program. Israel is widely believed to be behind a series of attacks in recent years that targeted Iranian nuclear scientists and sabotaged nuclear facilities. Hinz suggested a key Israeli goal was to undermine Iran's ability to make centrifuges, which are critical for enriching uranium. Uranium enrichment is a key component of building a nuclear weapon, but weapons also require detonators and a means of delivery, like missiles. Iran has two uranium-enrichment sites, and the country said Wednesday that it has built and will activate a third enrichment facility. On Thursday, Israel struck Iran's main and oldest facility in Natanz, 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, which was protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The IAEA's chief, Rafael Grossi, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday that the above-ground part of the plant where uranium was enriched up to 60% was destroyed, along with electrical infrastructure, including a substation, the main electric power supply building, the emergency power supply and backup generators. Grossi said there were no changes to radiation levels following the attack or any indication of damage to the underground section of the plant. That part of the facility is buried to protect it from airstrikes and contains the bulk of Natanz's enrichment facilities, with 10,000 centrifuges that enrich uranium up to 5%, Albright said. However, Grossi said, the loss of power may have damaged centrifuges. There is a good chance the strikes still caused 'massive damage,' Hinz said because many of the centrifuges were probably operating at the time of the strike. Centrifuges, Albright said, 'don't like vibration,' and the shock waves or loss of power could break delicate parts when they are rotating at high speed. Most of Iran's centrifuges are in Natanz, the experts said, because a lot of them are required to enrich uranium to 5% — which is the maximum level normally used for nuclear-fueled power stations. But, buried under a huge mountain at Fordo, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, is another nuclear facility where Iran is also enriching uranium to 60%, which is only a short step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. According to the IAEA, Tehran has the largest number of its most powerful centrifuges at Fordo. An Iranian news outlet close to the government reported Friday that two explosions were heard near the Fordo site. But, while Israel could potentially hit the entrance to Fordo and temporarily block access, it is not believed to have the type of earth-penetrating bombs required to blow up the mountain and crack open the nuclear facility inside, Hinz said. That capacity lies with the U.S., which has developed a massive bomb that can be dropped only from large aircraft that Israel does not have in service, he said. The potential for more strikes loomed large. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the attacks will continue 'for as many days at it takes to remove this threat.' Hinz said the attacks showed Israeli intelligence had 'absolutely exceptional' knowledge of Iran's nuclear program and the ability to strike at key targets 'with precision.' That could mean Israel could sabotage the plant, rather than trying to blast the mountain open. Albright suggested Israel could try to cut off electricity to Fordo, which could lead to centrifuges breaking. Although Grossi said part of the enrichment facility at Natanz was destroyed, he noted that radiation levels had not spiked. Even if radiation did leak, experts said, the amount would be unlikely to pose a risk to people in the region or even those near the facilities that got hit. 'Very little uranium will be released in these kind of attacks,' Albright said. Uranium itself is not especially toxic, he said, and is common in parts of the environment. A person standing near an enrichment facility with a leak would probably be exposed to no more radiation than someone who took several transatlantic flights, which receive slightly higher radiation because radiation doses are larger at high altitudes, he said. In order to become sick, someone would have to ingest large quantities of uranium, Albright said, pointing out that the element can be found naturally in seawater and the earth's crust. Rather than radiation, the greater risk might be from fluorine, which is used to enrich uranium and could have been deadly to those nearby if released during an attack. Fluorine is mixed with the uranium during enrichment to turn it into a gas called uranium hexafluoride. It is extremely volatile, will quickly corrode and can burn the skin. It is especially deadly if inhaled. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Iran retaliates after Israeli strikes targeting its nuclear program and military
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran launched retaliatory missile strikes on Israel into Saturday morning, killing at least two people and wounding others, after a series of blistering Israeli attacks on the heart of Iran's nuclear program and its armed forces. Israel's assault used warplanes, as well as drones smuggled into the country in advance, to assault key facilities and kill top generals and scientists. Israel asserted the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building an atomic weapon, although experts and the U.S. government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon before the strikes. It also threw talks between the United States and Iran over an atomic accord into disarray days before the two sides were set to meet Sunday. Iran retaliated by launching drones and later firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, to head to shelter for hours. Iranian missiles strike Israel Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message Friday: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in Israeli attacks. Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. A hospital in Tel Aviv treated seven people wounded in the second Iranian barrage; all but one of them had light injuries. Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said they were injured when a projectile hit a building in the city. Hours later, an Iranian missile struck near homes in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, killing two people and injuring 19, according to Israel's paramedic service Magen David Adom. Israel's Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged. Meanwhile, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran shortly after midnight on Saturday. An Associated Press journalist could hear air raid sirens near their home. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, with a video posted on X of a column of smoke and orange flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport. Israel's paramedic services said 34 people were wounded in the barrage on the Tel Aviv area, including a woman who was critically injured after being trapped under rubble. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an AP journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one where the front was nearly entirely torn away. U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. Strikes raise fears of all-out war Israel's ongoing airstrikes and intelligence operation and Iran's retaliation raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval. Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides. Israel had long threatened such a strike, and successive American administrations sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite a wider conflict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran's dispersed and hardened nuclear program. But a confluence of developments triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack — plus the reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump — created the conditions that allowed Israel to finally follow through on its threats. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the U.S. was informed in advance of the attack. On Thursday, Iran was censured by the U.N.'s atomic watchdog for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets. Its Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran ahead of time, and used them to target Iranian air defenses and missile launchers near Tehran, according to two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not possible to independently corroborate the officials' claims. Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, where black smoke could be seen rising into the air. It also appeared to strike a second, smaller nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, according to an Iranian news outlet close to the government that reported hearing explosions nearby. Israel said it struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, too, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. Israel military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the Natanz facility was 'significantly damaged' and that the operation was 'still in the beginning.' Above-ground section of Natanz facility destroyed U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. He said all the electrical infrastructure and emergency power generators were destroyed, as well as a section of the facility where uranium was enriched up to 60%. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. The first wave of strikes had given Israel 'significant freedom of movement' in Iran's skies, clearing the way for further attacks, according to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the attack with the media. Over the past year, Israel has been targeting Iran's air defenses, hitting a radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery in April 2024 and surface-to-air missile sites and missile manufacturing facilities in October. The official said Israel is prepared for an operation that could last up to two weeks, but that there was no firm timeline. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making. In a video statement sent to journalists Friday, he said he ordered plans for the attack last November, soon after the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, one of Iran's strongest proxies. Netanyahu said the attack was planned for April but was postponed. In its first response Friday, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through. Israel's military said it called up reservists and began stationing troops throughout the country as it braced for further retaliation from Iran or Iranian proxy groups. Trump urged Iran on Friday to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse.' 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,' he wrote. ___ Lidman and Frankel reported from Jerusalem.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel Says Iran Launched Fresh Barrage of Missiles
Israeli officials said early Saturday that Iran had launched a further barrage of missiles at the country and instructed Israelis to take shelter. The Israeli army said it was intercepting the missiles.
