Iran could begin its campaign of uranium enrichment again within “a matter of months”, according to the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), suggested that the Islamic Republic could have “cascades of centrifuges” operational in the near future, but declined to say whether he believed it was attempting to build a nuclear weapon.
Speaking to CBS News, Grossi said: “The capacities they have are there. They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that.
“Iran has the capacities there; industrial and technological capacities. So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.”
He added that the agency’s view was that US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last week, including the use of “bunker busting” bombs, had caused “severe damage”, but emphasised that it was “not total damage”.
"Iran has the capacities there; industrial and technological capacities. So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again,” he went on.
His comments would appear to contradict the White House’s claim that the facilities had been “obliterated”. Since the strikes, there have been conflicting reports on the severity of damage caused, while roughly 400kg of enriched uranium is still unaccounted for.
Discussing whether the IAEA agreed with the US and Israel’s assessment that Iran was attempting to build a nuclear weapon, Grossi said: “We didn’t see a programme that was aiming in that direction, but at the same time, they were not answering very, very important questions that were pending.”
Latest reports suggest that Iran has ended its cooperation with the agency, banning Grossi from entering the country and disconnecting monitoring cameras at its remaining nuclear sites.
Meanwhile, the country’s deputy foreign minister, has said that the regime will not accept a return to negotiations with the US regarding its nuclear activity if they included discussion of ending its enrichment scheme altogether.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi also said that any new talks must include a commitment from Washington not to launch any further attacks.
He told BBC News: “The level of [enrichment] can be discussed, the capacity can be discussed, but to say ‘you should not have enrichment, you should have zero enrichment and, if you do not agree we will bomb you’, that is the law of the jungle.”
And his comments were echoed by Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, who claimed the regime would “never stop” enrichment as it had an “inalienable right” to pursue “peaceful nuclear activity”.
