The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it believes Iran could recover its near weapons-grade uranium that is stored at locations hit by US strikes, but inspectors have not been allowed to conduct on-site checks for an extended period.
"It is accessible if there’s a wish to go there," IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said Wednesday in an interview on Bloomberg TV. Grossi added that IAEA inspectors have been unable to visit the sites where the material is held for 10 months.
According to the agency chief, recent satellite imagery indicates that the bulk of the material remains buried at the site where it was last observed near the city of Isfahan. The IAEA has used such imagery to monitor the locations in the absence of physical inspection.
Separately, Grossi described ongoing, intermittent contact between the agency and US officials as efforts continue to find a diplomatic resolution to the wider conflict that has disrupted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Grossi said he is in touch with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. "It’s on and off but there is a conversation," he said, emphasizing the agency's role. He also warned that verification is essential, saying: "An agreement without verification is an illusion."
The conflict has continued to impede energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war began in February, about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transited that waterway, the IAEA head noted.
In what has been described as a possible interim diplomatic step, Iran has reportedly offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in return for the United States lifting a blockade on Iranian ports, while deferring more complex negotiations on its nuclear program.
With inspectors absent from the bombed sites for 10 months and satellite observations forming the primary basis for the IAEA’s current assessment, agency officials say verification will remain central to any durable agreement and outcome.