Iran managed to hide uranium

After the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump declared that the operation was highly successful. The attack targeted three main sites, the most complex of which was undoubtedly the underground uranium enrichment plant in Fordow. According to official reports, seven US warplanes dropped 13.6-ton bunker-busting bombs on the Fordow facility, as well as on sites in Natanz. In addition, a US Navy submarine launched more than twenty cruise missiles at a third target, a facility in Isfahan.

However, this raises the question of whether the highly enriched uranium, the core of Iran's nuclear potential, was actually destroyed. Interestingly, shortly after the strikes, Hassan Abedini, deputy political director of Iranian state television, announced that the necessary nuclear materials had been removed from these three facilities before the US attack. The International Atomic Energy Agency also reported on June 22 that it had detected no increase in radiation levels at the three targeted sites.

Shortly afterward, Maxar Technologies released satellite images showing a line of trucks gathered around the Fordow facility two days before the US strike. This appears to support Iranian officials’ claims that enriched uranium and other materials were relocated in advance. Moreover, many political circles, including the US vice president, have not guaranteed that Iran’s nuclear capabilities were completely eliminated.

The Fordow facility, a fortress-like structure reinforced with layers of concrete and buried 300 feet underground, is located south of the Iranian capital, Tehran. It is considered the country’s most advanced nuclear site. Fordow, along with the sites in Natanz and Isfahan, was targeted by US air strikes on Saturday. Trump described the operation as a “tremendous military success” that “completely destroyed” Iran’s key enrichment sites. However, the US president’s claim about the extent of the damage could not be independently verified.

Iran plans to suspend cooperation with the IAEA

Following the US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, official Tehran is seriously considering changing its policy in this regard and may start by severing ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In particular, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammadbagher Ghalibaf, announced that parliament plans to suspend cooperation with the IAEA.

“We are drafting a bill in parliament to suspend Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA. This cooperation will only resume if there are clear guarantees that the IAEA will adhere to objective and professional principles in its activities,” Ghalibaf said.

According to him, Iran has never intended to develop a nuclear program “for anything other than peaceful purposes.” However, he stressed that the IAEA has failed to meet its obligations and has “become a tool for political pressure.” The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran also stated that the country will continue to develop its nuclear industry. Earlier, Iran called on the IAEA and other relevant international organizations to take immediate and decisive action against what it described as a US crime, warning that remaining silent in the face of this blatant act of aggression would expose the world to unprecedented and widespread danger.

It is also worth noting that just days before Trump ordered the strike on Iran, both the IAEA and the US National Intelligence Agency had stated that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons. However, Trump dismissed these conclusions and, according to critics, dragged the United States into a war instigated by Netanyahu, who has been accused of targeting civilians, including babies, children, women, and the elderly, for over a year and a half.