Iran Moves Centrifuge-Parts Workshop Underground at Natanz, IAEA Says

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a news conference at an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 13, 2021. Picture taken September 13, 2021. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a news conference at an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 13, 2021. Picture taken September 13, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
20

Iran Moves Centrifuge-Parts Workshop Underground at Natanz, IAEA Says

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a news conference at an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 13, 2021. Picture taken September 13, 2021. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a news conference at an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 13, 2021. Picture taken September 13, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran's new workshop at Natanz for making parts for centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, has been set up underground, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Thursday, a move apparently aimed at protecting it from possible attacks.

The workshop uses machines from a now-closed facility at Karaj that suffered what Tehran says was a sabotage attack by its arch-foe Israel. The workshop can make parts essential to advanced centrifuges that are among the most efficient in Iran's enrichment program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency informed its member states two weeks ago that Iran had moved the machines to Natanz without specifying where at the sprawling site, which includes the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant where Iran has thousands of centrifuges operating.

Grossi told a news conference the workshop had been set up in "one of the halls" of the FEP. Diplomats say the plant is roughly three floors below ground, possibly to protect it from potential air strikes.

Until now Iran has used the FEP only for enrichment. It is the one facility where the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers allows Iran to produce enriched uranium, but only with its first-generation IR-1 centrifuges, which are far less efficient than Iran's more advanced models.

"They said that it is ready to operate," the IAEA's chief inspector, Massimo Aparo, said of the workshop.

The 2015 deal has been eroding since then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of it in 2018. Iran later breached various restrictions the deal imposed on its nuclear activities, like caps on the purity to which it enriches uranium or its stockpile of enriched material.

It is now also enriching uranium at the FEP with advanced centrifuges and is enriching at other sites where the deal does not allow it. Talks to revive that deal have stalled.



Iran Extends Access to Airspace for Overflights after Ceasefire

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
TT
20

Iran Extends Access to Airspace for Overflights after Ceasefire

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran has expanded access to its airspace for international overflights following a ceasefire with Israel, though flight restrictions remain in place across much of the country, an official said Saturday.

"In addition to the eastern half of the country's airspace being available for domestic, international and overflight operations, the airspace over the central and western parts of the country has now also been opened only for international overflights," Majid Akhavan, spokesman for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said in a statement carried by the IRNA state news agency.

Flights to and from airports in the north, south and west of the country, including Tehran's Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, remained suspended, according to Akhavan.

"All fellow citizens are requested not to go to airports located in the northern, southern and western regions of the country," he said, urging travelers to follow updates through official sources only.

The move comes after Iran reopened its eastern airspace on Wednesday, following a ceasefire that ended 12 days of fighting with Israel.

Iran had closed its skies entirely on June 13 after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes, prompting Iranian missile retaliation.

Airports now operating include Mashhad in eastern Iran -- which Israel claimed to have targeted during the conflict -- as well as Chabahar in the southeast.

Flights in other regions remain suspended until further notice.