US strikes have set back Iran's nuclear programme "significantly", but the location of nearly 900 pounds (408 kg) of potentially enriched Iranian uranium is not known, UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA) director General Rafael Grossi said.
Grossi told Fox News that the agency is waiting to see what Iran decides to do and whether the country is going to reconstruct the nuclear facilities.
"For example, [if] there is a resumption, as I hope personally, of the negotiation with [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff, where there was an idea that Iran would not be enriching and would perhaps be part of an international consortium," Grossi said.
The full extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities following US strikes has yet to be verified, even though US president Donald Trump insisted the sites were completely demolished.
"As inspectors, we say what we can check and verify," Grossi said, adding that what the agency currently sees is "a very important degree of damage in all three facilities."
Asked about his previous statement on 900 pounds of potentially enriched uranium having been moved to an old site near Esfahan, Grossi said he could not speculate as they do not know where the material is located. He said that Iran told the IAEA that they would be taking protective measures "which may or may not include moving this material". The only way to confirm is "to allow the inspection activity to resume as soon as possible", he said.
But Iran's parliament today approved "the generalities of a plan requiring the government to suspend its cooperation with the IAEA," according to state news agency Irna. The motion still requires the endorsement of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) — Iran's highest security authority.
"According to the resolution, IAEA inspectors do not have the right to enter the country for inspections without the explicit approval of the SNSC," reported Nour News, an Iranian agency linked to Ali Shamkhani, top military and nuclear adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran's current parliamentary speaker, conservative Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said today that Iran's peaceful nuclear program "will advance at an even faster pace [than before]."
