Where is Iran’s uranium? France cites gaps without IAEA access

France’s top intelligence official has said that Iran’s nuclear program has been significantly delayed—likely by several months—following recent U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, though questions remain about the location of Iran’s stockpile of highly-enriched uranium.

Nicolas Lerner, the head of the French Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), made the statement, adding that each component of Iran’s nuclear development has suffered severe disruption, Caliber.Az reports via Western media.

"The Iranian nuclear program is the material, it is highly-enriched uranium, it is a capacity to convert this uranium from the gaseous phase to the solid phase. It is the manufacturing of the core and it is the delivery," Lerner explained.

He added: "Our assessment today is that each of these stages has been very seriously affected, very seriously damaged and that the nuclear program, as we knew it, has been extremely delayed, probably many months."

Lerner confirmed that a small portion of Iran’s enriched uranium had been destroyed in the strikes, but most of the stockpile remains under the control of Iranian authorities.

"Today we have indications (on where it is), but we cannot say with certainty as long as the IAEA does not restart its work. It's very important. We won't have the capacity to trace it (the stocks)," Lerner said.

Other intelligence assessments have also suggested that Iran retains a hidden stockpile of enriched uranium and the technical capacity to rebuild.

By Khagan Isayev