IAEA Says Unable to Verify Whether Iran Has Suspended All Uranium Enrichment

A combination picture of satellite images shows Shiraz South Missile Base in Shiraz South, Iran, before reconstruction, July 3, 2025 (LEFT), and after reconstruction and clearance efforts, January 30, 2026. Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
A combination picture of satellite images shows Shiraz South Missile Base in Shiraz South, Iran, before reconstruction, July 3, 2025 (LEFT), and after reconstruction and clearance efforts, January 30, 2026. Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
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IAEA Says Unable to Verify Whether Iran Has Suspended All Uranium Enrichment

A combination picture of satellite images shows Shiraz South Missile Base in Shiraz South, Iran, before reconstruction, July 3, 2025 (LEFT), and after reconstruction and clearance efforts, January 30, 2026. Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
A combination picture of satellite images shows Shiraz South Missile Base in Shiraz South, Iran, before reconstruction, July 3, 2025 (LEFT), and after reconstruction and clearance efforts, January 30, 2026. Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS

Iran has not allowed the United Nations nuclear agency access to its nuclear facilities bombed by Iran and the United States during a 12-day war in June, according to a confidential report by the watchdog circulated to member states and seen Friday by The Associated Press.

The report from the International Atomic Energy Agency stressed that it “cannot verify whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” or the “size of Iran’s uranium stockpile at the affected nuclear facilities.”

The IAEA report on Friday warned that due to the continued lack of access to any of Iran’s four declared enrichment facilities, the agency “cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran.”

The agency also said that Iran has not provided access to IAEA inspectors to the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant since Iran first made available information about the new facility over eight months ago. The confidential report warned that therefore the agency does not know whether this facility “contains nuclear material or is operational.”

The report stressed that the “loss of continuity of knowledge over all previously declared nuclear material at affected facilities in Iran needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency.”

Iran has long insisted its program is peaceful, but the IAEA and Western nations say Tehran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003.

The IAEA reported that Iran had informed the agency in a letter dated Feb. 2 that “the conditions resulting from acts of aggression and the continuation of threats have created a situation in which the normal implementation of safeguards is legally untenable and materially impracticable,” adding that it would be “inconsistent with Iran’s essential security considerations."

The confidential IAEA report also said Friday that Iran did provide access to its inspectors “to each of the unaffected nuclear facilities at least once since the military attacks of June 2025, with the exception of Karun Nuclear Power Plant, which is in the early stages of construction and does not contain nuclear material.”

Iran suspended all cooperation with the IAEA after the war with Israel. Iran is legally obliged to cooperate with the IAEA under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Highly enriched material should be verified regularly According to the IAEA, Iran maintains a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned in a recent interview with the AP. He added that it doesn’t mean that Iran has such a weapon.

Such highly enriched nuclear material should normally be verified every month, according to the IAEA’s guidelines.

The IAEA also reported that it had observed, through the analysis of commercially available satellite imagery, “regular vehicular activity around the entrance to the tunnel complex at Isfahan.”

The facility in Isfahan, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) southeast of Tehran, was mainly known for producing the uranium gas that is fed into centrifuges to be spun and purified.

Both Israel and Iran struck the Isfahan site in June.

The IAEA also reported that through the analysis of commercially available satellite imagery, it has observed “activities being conducted at some of the affected nuclear facilities, including the enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow,” but it added that “without access to these facilities it is not possible for the Agency to confirm the nature and the purpose of the activities.”

The IAEA reported on Friday that Grossi attended negotiations between the US and Iran on Feb. 17 and Feb. 26 in Geneva at which he “provided advice on issues relevant to the verification of Iran’s nuclear program.” The report said that those negotiations are “ongoing."

The Trump administration has held three rounds of nuclear talks this year with Iran under Omani mediation. Thursday's talks in Geneva ended without a deal, leaving the danger of another Mideast war on the table as the US has gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the region.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who mediated in the Geneva talks, said technical discussions involving lower-level representatives would continue next week in Vienna, the home of the IAEA. The agency is likely to be critical in any deal.

The US is seeking a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons.

If the talks fail, uncertainty hangs over the timing of any possible attack, as well as its mission and goals.

Iran says it is not pursuing weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment on its soil or hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Similar talks last year between the US and Iran about Iran’s nuclear program broke down after the start of the war in June. Before then, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity.

 



Russia Evacuates 198 Workers from Iran Nuclear Plant Amid Airstrike

Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Alexey Likhachev arrives to attend the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 01 April 2026. (EPA/Pavel Bednyakov/AP Pool)
Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Alexey Likhachev arrives to attend the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 01 April 2026. (EPA/Pavel Bednyakov/AP Pool)
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Russia Evacuates 198 Workers from Iran Nuclear Plant Amid Airstrike

Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Alexey Likhachev arrives to attend the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 01 April 2026. (EPA/Pavel Bednyakov/AP Pool)
Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Alexey Likhachev arrives to attend the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 01 April 2026. (EPA/Pavel Bednyakov/AP Pool)

Russia started a planned evacuation of 198 workers from Iran's Bushehr atomic plant shortly after a US-Israeli projectile hit near the facility, Russian state media said on Saturday.

This was a third evacuation from the facility in southern Iran on the Gulf coast, which was built with Moscow's help, with about 100 Russian staff remaining there by now.

The area around Bushehr has been struck four times during this war. The latest attack on Saturday saw one person -- a guard at the facility -- killed, but did not damage the plant itself, according to Iranian state media.

"As planned, we began the main phase of the evacuation today," Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev was quoted as saying by Russia's TASS news agency.

"About 20 minutes after that ill-fated strike, buses set off from Bushehr station towards the Iranian-Armenian border (with) 198 people, to be precise -- this is the largest evacuation," he added.

Likhachev also said that Russia informed the US and Israel about the evacuation.

"The likelihood of a risk of damage or a potential nuclear incident is, unfortunately, only increasing, as has been confirmed by this morning's events," the Rosatom CEO said.

The agency plans to keep only a skeleton staff at Bushehr amid the threat of further strikes.

The Russian foreign ministry slammed the "evil" US-Israeli attack and urged a cessation of hostilities on Iranian nuclear facilities immediately.


Erdogan Says Middle East War Has Caused ‘Geostrategic Impasse’

This handout photograph taken and released by the Turkish presidential press service on April 4, 2026, shows Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcoming and shaking hands Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) upon arrival for a bilateral meeting on security at Dolmabahce Presidential Office, in Istanbul. (Turkish Presidential Press Service / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Turkish presidential press service on April 4, 2026, shows Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcoming and shaking hands Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) upon arrival for a bilateral meeting on security at Dolmabahce Presidential Office, in Istanbul. (Turkish Presidential Press Service / AFP)
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Erdogan Says Middle East War Has Caused ‘Geostrategic Impasse’

This handout photograph taken and released by the Turkish presidential press service on April 4, 2026, shows Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcoming and shaking hands Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) upon arrival for a bilateral meeting on security at Dolmabahce Presidential Office, in Istanbul. (Turkish Presidential Press Service / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Turkish presidential press service on April 4, 2026, shows Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcoming and shaking hands Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) upon arrival for a bilateral meeting on security at Dolmabahce Presidential Office, in Istanbul. (Turkish Presidential Press Service / AFP)

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the war in the Middle East had led to a "geostrategic impasse", during a telephone conversation with NATO chief Mark Rutte, his office said Saturday.

"President Erdogan said the process started by the intervention against Iran had led to a geostrategic impasse and that the international community had to redouble its efforts to bring an end to this war," said the statement.

Türkiye has attempted to mediate an end to the hostilities, notably through negotiations conducted with Pakistan and Egypt.

Erdogan said his country was also continuing efforts "to reach a peaceful outcome" to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Istanbul Saturday for talks with Erdogan.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that the talks would not only be about drone interceptors but also about security cooperation in general.

The Turkish presidency said on X that the talks would focus "efforts towards a ceasefire and a lasting solution."


Several Injured in Israel by Iran Missile Fire

A picture shows the damage at a factory that got hit by a missile in Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)
A picture shows the damage at a factory that got hit by a missile in Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)
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Several Injured in Israel by Iran Missile Fire

A picture shows the damage at a factory that got hit by a missile in Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)
A picture shows the damage at a factory that got hit by a missile in Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, on April 3, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli emergency services said its crew treated five people who were injured Saturday in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas after Iran fired several rounds of missiles toward Israel.

Since midnight, seven waves of Iranian missiles have been launched towards Israel, according to the Israeli military.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services said a 45-year-old man was treated for minor injuries from glass shrapnel in the central city of Bnei Brak and taken to hospital.

As the day progressed, rescue teams said they had treated three additional casualties -- two men in their 20s hit by glass fragments and one injured by blast.

A 52-year-old man "lightly injured by the blast wave" was also transferred to a hospital in Ramat Gan, in central Israel, the emergency service said.

In a residential neighborhood of Ramat Gan, AFP images showed the top floor of a house completely blown out, exposing its gutted interior, with a crushed bookcase and an exercise bike amid the debris.

Numerous impact marks were visible on the walls.

Nearby, another home was largely destroyed, stripped of its outer walls, according to AFP photographs.

"All this is from shrapnel," Joy Frankel, a social worker told AFP near one of the impacted sites.

According to several local media outlets, including The Times of Israel, a cluster munition missile fired from Iran on Saturday morning landed near the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, not far from the defense ministry.

The military said its air defenses were working to down missiles fired from Iran, each a time it announced incoming projectiles.

Since February 28, the United States and Israel have conducted joint strikes against Iran, prompting the Tehran to retaliate with daily missile barrages targeting Israel and several neighboring countries across the region.