Nuke Site Or Empty Hall? UN Watchdog Clueless On Iran's Isfahan Enrichment Facility

UN watchdog earlier said almost half of Iran's uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity, a short step from weapons-grade, was stored in a tunnel complex at Isfahan and is probably still there.

19 Mar 2026, 09:34 · NDTV

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Iran developed a new uranium enrichment site at an underground complex in Isfahan
IAEA inspectors cannot confirm if the new facility is operational or an empty hall
Nearly half of Iran's 60% enriched uranium is stored in a tunnel complex at Isfahan

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Iran has reportedly developed a new uranium enrichment site at an underground complex in Isfahan, which was apparently badly damaged in attacks by the US and Israel on Iran's nuclear facilities last June. However, inspectors are unable to determine whether the new facility is operational or just an "empty hall", the UN's nuclear watchdog has said.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general, Rafael Grossi, there are "many questions" about how advanced the facility is, which could only be answered if the watchdog could get access to them.

"It is underground, but we haven't visited it yet," Grossi told reporters in Washington, where he's visiting to hold talks with Trump administration officials.

Iran had informed the UN nuclear watchdog of the new facility in June 2025, and Grossi said the UN inspectors were in Isfahan later that month to see it but had to cancel the visit when the nuclear complex there was struck at the beginning of the 12-day war with Israel.

Because the visit was cancelled, Grossi said the agency does not know "whether it is simply an empty hall" or hosts concrete pads awaiting the installation of centrifuges -- the machines that enrich uranium for power plants and nuclear weapons -- or whether some centrifuges had been installed.

"There are many questions that we will only elucidate when we are able to go back," he added.

Grossi earlier said almost half of Iran's uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity, a short step from weapons-grade, was stored in a tunnel complex at Isfahan and is probably still there. The tunnel complex was the only target that appeared not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the US on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Iran Nuke Problem

The United States and Israel have cited Tehran's nuclear programme as one reason for their current attacks on Iran, arguing that it was getting too close to being able to produce a bomb -- something Tehran says they have no intention of doing. This was despite US President Donald Trump previously saying that America's June strikes had obliterated the programme, even as the IAEA said it has no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons programme.

The IAEA estimates that when Israel launched its first attacks in June, Iran had 440.9 kg of 60 per cent uranium. If enriched further, that would provide the explosive needed for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.

"What we believe is that Isfahan had until our last inspection a bit more than 200 kg, maybe a little bit more than that, of 60 per cent uranium," Grossi told reporters in Paris last week.

He said the stock was "mainly" at Isfahan, and some held elsewhere may have been destroyed.

"The widespread assumption is that the material is still there. So we haven't seen - and not only us, I think in general all those observing the facility through satellite imagery and other means to see what's going on there - movement indicating that the material could have been transferred," Grossi said.

Iran has not informed the IAEA of the status or whereabouts of its highly enriched uranium since the June attacks, nor has it let IAEA inspectors return to its bombed facilities.

Attacks On Iran's Nuke Sites

Amid the current fighting, Iran and Russia have both alleged that a projectile has struck the grounds of the Islamic Republic's Bushehr nuclear power plant, raising the spectre of a radiological incident as Tehran's war with Israel and the United States rages.

The IAEA has meanwhile said the new strike on the Iranian nuclear site has caused no damage or injuries. The entrances to Iran's underground and previously bombed uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz were also struck in the US-Israeli military attacks on the country.

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