The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog revealed last week that the body believes that most of Iran’s supply of enriched uranium survived the country’s 12-day war with Israel back in June, and is still being kept inside the damaged nuclear facilities.

Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung in an interview published on October 18 that the UN body’s findings suggest that “the majority” of Iran’s 60% enriched uranium “remains in the nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Fordo, and some in Natanz.”

He estimated that, in total, Iran has roughly 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium still in its possession.

A confidential report by the IAEA last month found that as of June 13, Iran had 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. As Grossi told NZZ that the Islamic Republic still has around 400 kilograms, it would appear that, in the IAEA’s assessment, most of its stockpiled enriched uranium was not damaged by the war.

Israel struck both the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities during the 12-day war with Iran back in June, and the US struck both the sites as well, in addition to the underground and hard-to-reach Fordo site, which Israel did not have the means to target alone.

The three facilities were “massively damaged” in the strikes, Grossi told NZZ, meaning........

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