IAEA chief confirms significant damage to Fordow facility, calls for inspector access to Iran’s nuclear sites

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has confirmed that the Fordow nuclear facility in Iran sustained significant damage due to recent attacks by the United States.

In the wake of escalating strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure by both the US and Israel, the IAEA chief urgently called for the return of agency inspectors to Iran’s nuclear sites, Caliber.Az reports, per foreign media.

Speaking at an emergency meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Grossi emphasized the necessity of resuming inspections to “account for” Iran’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium.

“To be able to ‘return to the negotiating table,’ ‘allow IAEA inspectors, the guardians on our behalf of the NPT to go back to Iran's nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium’ including the ‘400 kilograms enriched to 60 per cent,’” Grossi stated.

The director-general further disclosed that on June 13, Tehran sent a letter notifying the agency of the implementation of “special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials” amid the increasing regional tensions. This communication came shortly before the United States carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, intensifying Israel’s ongoing campaign against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

By Vafa Guliyeva