Trump's strikes on Iranian nuclear sites trigger 'cat-and-mouse' hunt for missing uranium
Trump's bombing of Iranian nuclear sites has created a new problem for inspectors - as they're forced into a game of 'cat-and-mouse' to find the 'missing' uranium.
UN inspectors are grappling with the issue of trying to tell if enriched uranium stocks, some of them near weapons grade, were buried beneath the rubble or had been secretly hidden away by the Ayatollah before Trump's B-2 bombers struck.
Following last weekend's attacks on three of Iran 's top nuclear sites - at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan - President Donald Trump said the facilities had been 'obliterated' by US munitions, including bunker-busting bombs.
But the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Tehran's nuclear program, has said it's unclear exactly what damage was sustained at Fordow, a plant buried deep inside a mountain that produced the bulk of Iran's most highly enriched uranium.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday it was highly likely the sensitive centrifuges used to enrich uranium inside Fordow were badly damaged.
It's far less clear whether Iran's 9 tons of enriched uranium - more than 400 kg of it enriched to close to weapons grade - were destroyed.
Western governments are scrambling to determine what's become of it.
Olli Heinonen, previously the IAEA's top inspector from 2005 to 2010, said the search will probably involve complicated recovery of materials from damaged buildings as well as forensics and environmental sampling, which take a long time.
'There could be materials which are inaccessible, distributed under the rubble or lost during the bombing,' said Heinonen, who dealt extensively with Iran while at the IAEA and now works at the Stimson Center think-tank in Washington.
Iran's more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity - a short step from the roughly 90 percent of weapons grade - are enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
Even a fraction of that left unaccounted for would be a grave concern for Western powers that believe Iran is at least keeping the option of nuclear weapons open.
There are indications Iran may have moved some of its enriched uranium before it could be struck.
IAEA chief Grossi said Iran informed him on June 13, the day of Israel's first attacks, that it was taking measures to protect its nuclear equipment and materials. While it did not elaborate, he said that suggests it was moved.
A Western diplomat involved in the dossier, who asked not to be identified by Reuters, said most of the enriched uranium at Fordow would appear to have been moved days in advance of the attacks, 'almost as if they knew it was coming'.
Some experts have said a line of vehicles including trucks visible on satellite imagery outside Fordow before it was hit suggests enriched uranium there was moved elsewhere, though U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved it.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Another Western diplomat said it would be a major challenge to verify the condition of the uranium stockpile, citing a long list of past disputes between the IAEA and Tehran, including Iran's failure to credibly explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites.
'It'll be a game of cat and mouse.'
Iran says it has fulfilled all its obligations towards the watchdog.
On Friday, President Donald Trump revealed he would bomb Iran again if Tehran were enriching uranium and warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he was close to an 'ugly death.'
'Sure, without a question. Absolutely,' Trump said when he was asked at a White House press conference about the possibility of a new bombing of Iranian nuclear sites if deemed necessary.
He also said he'd respond soon to Khamanei's statement that Iran won. And, after he left the presser, the president uploaded a lengthy post to his Truth Social account, blasting the Ayatollah.
'His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life. I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH,' Trump wrote.
'They have no hope, and it will only get worse! I wish the leadership of Iran would realize that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR. PEACE!!!,' he added.
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