Iran rejects claims of uranium removal, says enrichment halted after attacks

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has denied allegations that Tehran removed enriched uranium from its nuclear sites before recent strikes, insisting all material remains “under the rubble” and inaccessible until new inspection arrangements are agreed with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"No. All of our enriched material are under the rubble. They have not been recovered yet and we don’t have any intention to recover them before we come to that modality with the Agency," Araghchi said in an interview with The Economist.

He said the unprecedented attacks created security, safety and radiation risks that prevent any examination without an agreed protocol.

Araghchi confirmed that uranium enrichment is currently halted due to extensive damage at targeted facilities.

However, he reiterated that Iran will not abandon enrichment altogether, calling it a costly and hard-won national achievement.

During previous negotiations, he said, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff pushed for “zero enrichment”, a position Araghchi described as impossible, though he maintained Iran remains open to verifiable limits ensuring “zero weapons”.

He added that Tehran and the IAEA struck a Cairo agreement dividing facilities into attacked and untouched categories, allowing routine inspections at the latter.

But he blamed the E3 and the United States for escalating the dispute by moving to activate UN snapback sanctions and pushing a new Board of Governors resolution, complicating further cooperation.

By Aghakazim Guliyev