Highly enriched uranium is currently “sealed off” inside damaged facilities in Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, Israeli and US officials say, according to the America news website, Axios.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview that aired Monday with US journalist Tucker Carlson that the nuclear facilities were seriously damaged, but Iran doesn't currently have access to them to accurately assess the situation.
US and Israeli officials say both countries' intelligence services are monitoring Iranian actions around its nuclear facilities to detect efforts to remove material or restore operations, according to Axios.
Netanyahu's top adviser, Ron Dermer, told officials in closed briefings that he came away from a recent visit to Washington with the impression that the Trump administration would back new Israeli strikes on Iran under certain circumstances, two sources with knowledge told the website.
One scenario would be an Iranian attempt to remove the highly enriched uranium inside the damaged facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, according to the sources.
Another would be if the Iranians start rebuilding their nuclear program, particularly enrichment facilities.
Dermer met last week with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, Israeli officials said.
Witkoff is planning to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oslo in the coming days to restart nuclear talks.
According to Axios, the Iranians confirmed such a meeting is in the works but so far no final date has been set.
Dermer told Israeli officials the US remains committed to the principle of zero enrichment on Iranian soil in the nuclear talks, the website wrote.
