NYT: US unaware of where Iran moved its uranium stockpiles after June 21 bombing

The US top leadership are struggling to learn the location of Iranian enriched uranium stockpiles after the American forces struck the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.

Senior American and Israeli officials have acknowledged uncertainty over what happened to a batch of uranium enriched to 60 per cent — material sufficient to produce nine or 10 nuclear weapons if further processed, Caliber.Az cites the New York Times report.

“We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel and that’s one of the things that we’re going to have conversations with the Iranians about,” Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with ABC’s This Week on June 22. He maintained that Iran’s ability to weaponise the uranium had been severely damaged because “it no longer had the equipment to turn that fuel into operative weapons.”

However, there are signs that Iran may have anticipated the strikes and moved key materials in advance. According to two Israeli officials familiar with the intelligence, Iranian teams recently relocated some equipment and uranium from known sites. Evidence suggests that around 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity — just below weapons-grade — had been moved from storage inside a complex near Esfahan.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed that UN inspectors had last seen the uranium about a week before the attacks began. 

“Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material,” Grossi told CNN on June 22. When later asked if this meant the fuel had been moved, Grossi replied by text: “I do.”

The fuel stockpile, according to officials, is small enough to fit in casks that could be transported in about 10 cars. Its current location is now at the center of growing concern among Western intelligence agencies.

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies showed truck activity at Iran’s Fordo facility shortly before the US strikes, with 16 cargo trucks near one entrance. It remains unclear whether any uranium was removed from that site.

Still, officials believe Iran could only salvage limited amounts of equipment.

“It would have been unrealistic to completely move equipment out of Fordo after the conflict with Israel began,” a US official said, noting that centrifuges are physically fixed to the facility. The same official added that Iran’s historical nuclear documents, stored deep underground, would complicate any future efforts to restart the program.

The Natanz facility, older and less protected than Fordo, was hit hard in the attacks. Grossi said the Israeli strikes likely destroyed the site’s centrifuges.

“The interruption of the electrical supply could have sent the centrifuges spinning out of control, probably destroying all of them,” he explained.

While Iran is constructing a new underground plant near Natanz, officials claim it is not yet operational. Meanwhile, the fate of the current uranium stockpile — and future inspections — remains uncertain. Iranian authorities have suspended international inspections during wartime and may not permit IAEA teams to access Fordo or Natanz anytime soon.

Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon and CIA official, said: “With the type and amount of munitions used, it will likely set back the Iranian nuclear weapon program two to five years.”

By Sabina Mammadli