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.

 



Iran Reportedly Received Letter from US Vice President, Has Not Replied Yet

A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Reportedly Received Letter from US Vice President, Has Not Replied Yet

A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the empty hall of the United Nations, on a building in Tehran, Iran, October 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iranian media reported on Thursday that Tehran had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance but had not yet responded, amid efforts to revive peace talks between the countries.

Tasnim news agency reported that "Iran has received the letter but has not yet responded," while Fars news agency carried a similar account, citing "a source familiar with the matter.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Vance had sent the letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei at the direction of US President Donald Trump, in a bid to revive negotiations and avert new US strikes.

The letter and subsequent contact between US and Iranian officials focused on a possible framework for negotiations rather than specific terms for a peace deal, the newspaper reported.

The war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed former supreme leader Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders.

Iran retaliated with attacks on Israel and US assets in the region and imposed restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption.

The United States has also imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

The reported correspondence comes as diplomatic efforts to end the war have yet to produce a lasting agreement.

On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was discussing a plan with mediators, mainly Qatar and Pakistan, to end the war and reopen the waterway.

Tehran insists that Washington meet seven conditions it has set for reopening the strait.

The conditions include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade.

Tasnim reported that "any position that undermines this firm framework established by Iran is unacceptable.”


Three Dead in Rock Spire Collapse at Türkiye's Cappadocia

This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
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Three Dead in Rock Spire Collapse at Türkiye's Cappadocia

This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on October 29,2026 by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows Turkish soldiers and rescue teams searching for victims at the site of a rock formation that collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Cappadocia district of Nevsehir. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)

A landslide triggered by heavy rainfall caused a rock spire to collapse in Türkiye's UNESCO World Heritage-listed Cappadocia region on Thursday, bringing the death toll to three, officials said.

Türkiye's Cappadocia region, a magnet for tourists from around the world, is home to cone-shaped rock formations known as "fairy chimneys,” created by ancient volcanic activity.

"According to initial findings, two people were killed and five others injured in the incident," Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X.

Rescue teams pulled another body from the rubble, bringing the death toll to three, Nevsehir Governor Huseyin Kok said, according to AFP.

The nationalities of the dead were not immediately known.

"Search and rescue teams are continuing intensive, coordinated operations to locate any other victims who may be trapped under the debris," the minister said.

Television footage showed heavy machinery digging through the rubble as rescue teams gathered at the site in an effort to recover people.

Excavators and rescue workers worked into the night at the site, using powerful floodlights as the search operation continued.

The incident occurred at 3:15 pm local time (1215 GMT) when a landslide triggered a rockfall in the town of Goreme near the open-air museum, local governor Kok said.

The area was closed to the public following the collapse, according to reports.

Eyewitnesses described hearing a loud noise as the rock spire near a car park collapsed, sending up a huge cloud of dust.

Türkiye's culture and tourism ministry has launched restoration work in the region to help preserve the fragile rock formations from climate-related damage, natural erosion and human activity.

In 2024, another rockfall was reported in Cappadocia, although no deaths or injuries were recorded.

A UNESCO heritage site since 1985, Goreme national park and the rock sites of Cappadocia are "a landscape of harmony combining human interaction and settlement with dramatic natural landforms," according to the UN agency.

Some of the cones and pillars have experienced earthquake damage, but this is seen as a naturally occurring phenomenon.

"Overuse by tourists and some vandalism have been reported and some incompatible structures have been introduced," it said on its website.

The Cappadocia region is also home to rock-carved underground cities and early Christian churches.

In 2025, some 4.5 million domestic and foreign tourists visited the region, according to tourism ministry figures.

Hot-air ballooning in Cappadocia is a thriving industry that sees dozens of balloons take to the skies on clear mornings. But concerns have been raised about safety following a series of accidents.

"Winter Sleep,” the acclaimed drama by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan that won the Palme d'Or in 2014, was set in the Cappadocia region.


One Injured in Fire at South Carolina Nuclear Site

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo
The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo
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One Injured in Fire at South Carolina Nuclear Site

The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo
The Savannah River Site (SRS), a 310 square mile (198,046 acres) Department of Energy site, located in the sand-hills region of South Carolina, US shown in this aerial photo made available on July 27, 2012 - Reuters/File Photo

A fire on Wednesday at a South Carolina complex that produced plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War left one person with minor injuries, a US Department of Energy spokesperson said.

The spokesperson, citing officials at the Savannah River Site that includes the Savannah River National Laboratory where the fire was reported, said the fire was extinguished and no contamination has been reported. The spokesperson said the person injured was an employee who was taken to the hospital.

The Savannah River Site did not say what caused the fire.

The fire prompted a "site area emergency." The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted flights in the area because of the fire, according to its website. The Savannah River Site said rail, river and ground travel in the area also was restricted and that employees not involved in emergency response or shutdown operations were sheltered as a precaution.

After producing material for nuclear weapons during the Cold War, the Savannah River National Laboratory now focuses on waste cleanup and nuclear materials management.

It was built near Jackson, South Carolina, in the early 1950s.