Mystery Surrounds Iran's Nuclear Program... IAEA Unaware of Status of Isfahan Facility
A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the status of Iran’s nuclear facilities has revealed significant gaps in inspection and monitoring operations, amid uncertainty surrounding the status of the Isfahan facility and the Agency’s inability to conduct on-site verification of its activities for six months.
According to the report, which Al Arabiya English obtained a copy of, the IAEA confirmed that it has not conducted any on-site verification at any Iranian nuclear facility since February last year, limiting its ability to assess developments within Iran’s nuclear program.
The report noted that the Agency has been unable to monitor centrifuge activities, confirming that it does not know the exact status of the Isfahan enrichment facility.
This comes after IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated on Tuesday, in a report that has not been officially released, that Iran continues to refuse cooperation with IAEA inspectors, keeping them in the dark about its controversial uranium stockpiles, amid ongoing tensions with the United States.
The report indicated that Tehran has provided no information to the IAEA in Vienna regarding approximately 440 kilograms of uranium, an amount experts say is sufficient to produce several nuclear weapons if the purity of the highly enriched material were increased slightly further.
Prior to the US-Israeli strikes in June 2025, the IAEA estimated that Iran possessed around 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a level close to the 90 percent required for a nuclear weapon and far exceeding the 3.67 percent limit stipulated in the 2015 agreement between Iran and the major powers.
However, the fate of this stockpile remains uncertain since June 2025.
Grossi stated in June last year that the “prevailing impression” is that the stockpile remains in its previous location near the Isfahan nuclear facility.
The Isfahan nuclear facility is one of the key centers of Iran’s nuclear program, housing a large complex of uranium processing, conversion, and nuclear fuel fabrication facilities, including a uranium conversion plant that produces materials used in the nuclear fuel cycle. The facility also includes equipment related to the manufacturing of centrifuge components and uranium processing.
The site gained additional significance after Iran announced in 2025 the establishment of a new uranium enrichment facility within a tunnel complex in Isfahan, while parts of the complex were damaged during strikes targeting nuclear facilities last year.
