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.

 



Airlines Cancel Flights after US, Israel Strikes on Iran

28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Airlines Cancel Flights after US, Israel Strikes on Iran

28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
28 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Smoke billows following an explosion in Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East on Saturday after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, plunging the region into a new conflict, Reuters reported.

Airspace over Iran and Iraq was empty on Saturday morning, maps by flight-tracking service Flightradar24 showed.

Below is the latest on flights listed by airline in alphabetical order:

AIR FRANCE KLM Air France cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel and Beirut in Lebanon for Saturday. KLM brought forward the suspension of its Amsterdam–Tel Aviv service, cancelling the flight scheduled for Saturday.

The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM had announced on Wednesday that flights would be halted from Sunday, but has now advanced that date.

Only one flight to Tel Aviv had ⁠been scheduled for ⁠Saturday.

IBERIA EXPRESS The Spanish airline owned by Iberia Group cancelled a flight to Tel Aviv scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. local time.

INDIGO The airline said it was monitoring regional updates.

JAPAN AIRLINES Japan Airlines cancelled a flight on Saturday from Tokyo Haneda to Doha as well as a return flight on March 1, Nikkei said.

LOT POLISH AIRLINES LOT Polish Airlines returned its flight LO121 from Warsaw to Dubai ⁠to Warsaw.

LUFTHANSA The German airline suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel, Beirut in Lebanon, and Oman until March 7 and flights to and from Dubai on Saturday and Sunday. They also said they would not fly through Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iraqi and Iranian airspace until March 7.

NORWEGIAN AIR The Nordic airline suspended all flights to and from Dubai on Saturday, a company spokesperson said. The carrier did not suspend flights to Tel Aviv in Israel or Beirut in Lebanon as these destinations are only active in summer, he added.

SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES The airline told Reuters it had suspended its flight to Tel Aviv from ⁠Copenhagen on Saturday. ⁠No decision had been made regarding flights on later dates.

TURKISH AIRLINES The airline cancelled flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman on Saturday and flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan until March 2.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC Virgin Atlantic said it will temporarily avoid Iraqi airspace, resulting in some pre-planned rerouting of its flights and cancelled its VS400 service from London Heathrow to Dubai on Saturday.

QATAR AIRWAYS The airline said it has temporarily suspended flights to and from Doha due to the closure of Qatari airspace.

WIZZ AIR The airline halted flights to and from Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman with immediate effect until March 7.

It added that operational decisions would continue to be reviewed, and the flight schedule could be adjusted as the situation evolves.


Netanyahu: Time Has Come to Remove the Yoke of Tyranny

Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Netanyahu: Time Has Come to Remove the Yoke of Tyranny

Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, February 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran must not be allowed to gain nuclear arms and urged Israelis to "stand together" after Israel and the United States launched strikes against Iran on Saturday.

"This murderous terrorist regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

"Together we will stand, together we will fight and together we will ensure the eternity of Israel," he added.

Netanyahu said that the joint US-Israeli attack "will create the conditions for ⁠the brave Iranian people ⁠to take their destiny into their own ⁠hands."

"The time has come for all sections of the people in Iran ... to remove the yoke of tyranny from (the ⁠regime) and ⁠bring a free and peace-loving Iran," Netanyahu said in a statement.

The attack follows a 12-day air war in June between Israel and Iran and repeated US-Israeli warnings that they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

An Israeli defense official said the operation had been planned for months in coordination with Washington, and that the launch date was decided weeks ⁠ago.


Trump Announces Major Combat, Tells Iran Officials to Lay Down Arms or ‘Face Death’

US President Donald Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
US President Donald Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
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Trump Announces Major Combat, Tells Iran Officials to Lay Down Arms or ‘Face Death’

US President Donald Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
US President Donald Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)

US President Donald Trump on Saturday called attacks on Iran “a noble mission,” saying they were necessary because of Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile systems that could reach the US.

The US and Israel launched the coordinated attacks on Iran to destroy the country's missile forces and "annihilate" the country's navy.

Trump encouraged the Iranian people to “take over your government — it will be yours to take.”

Despite claims that last year’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities destroyed the country’s nuclear program, Trump said that Iran “attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.”

Trump said that Saturday’s strikes would be part of “a massive and ongoing operation” that will aim to “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground” as well as “annihilate their navy,” and “ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces.”

Trump urged Iranian forces to surrender, including the Revolutionary Guards.

"To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or in the alternative, face certain death," Trump said.

The attack was widely expected after Trump ordered the biggest military deployment to the Middle East in years.