US bombing probably caused “very significant” damage to the underground areas of Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment plant dug into a mountain, though no one can yet tell the extent, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.
In a statement to an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-nation Board of Governors, Grossi appealed for immediate access to Iran’s targeted sites to assess the damage.
The United States dropped the biggest conventional bombs in its arsenal on Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday, using those bunker-busting munitions in combat for the first time to try to eliminate sites including the Fordow uranium-enrichment plant dug into a mountain.
“At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow,” Grossi said.
He said that taking into account the highly explosive payload used in the US attacks, “very significant damage is expected to have occurred” to the highly sensitive centrifuge machinery used to enrich uranium at Fordow.
Grossi then voiced fears over “potential widening” of the Middle East conflict. “We have a window of opportunity to return to dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.
Beyond the level of damage done to Fordow's underground enrichment halls, one of the biggest open questions is the status of its stock of enriched uranium, particularly its more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from the roughly 90% that is weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick, though Iran says its intentions are peaceful and it does not seek atomic bombs.
Iran did, however, inform the IAEA on June 13 that it would take “special measures” to protect its nuclear materials and equipment that are under so-called IAEA safeguards, the oversight provided for by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Grossi said.
“In my response that same day, I indicated that any transfer of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility to another location in Iran must be declared to the agency,” Grossi said.
He noted that craters are visible at the Fordow site, indicating the use by the United States of ground penetrating munitions.
For his part, McCoy Pitt, Senior Bureau Official, Bureau of International Organization Affairs said at the IAEA meeting on Monday that the urgent threat from Iran’s enrichment program cannot be ignored or explained away.
He said any allegation that the IAEA played any role in the US actions is baseless and should be rejected.
This week, a parliamentary committee had proposed a bill to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to ban Grossi from visiting Iran.
Meanwhile, the ambassadors of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries accredited to the IAEA have jointly called for an immediate halt to regional escalation.
The GCC statement reaffirmed the group’s unwavering support for peaceful conflict resolution, highlighting the importance of learning from past crises.
