The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog group revealed even more damage from the US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites after taking a closer look — including possible chemical contamination at one facility.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said Tuesday that the latest satellite images from the Fordow and Natanz facilities showed additional damage, beyond what the agency found in the first-pass review of the sites.
At Fordow, the mountain fortress just south of Tehran, officials identified additional strikes at the road leading up to the facility, as well as one of the entrances.
A satellite view shows holes and craters at the Fordow facility in Iran. via REUTERSThe US dropped 14 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on the facility, which includes equipment buried 300 feet underground.
Meanwhile, at Natanz, the IAEA identified “two impact holes from the U.S. strikes above the underground halls that had been used for enrichment as well as for storage.”
“Based on its knowledge of what these halls contained, the IAEA assesses that this strike may have caused localized contamination and chemical hazards,” Grossi warned.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog group warned of possible contamination at the Natanz facility. Getty Images
The watchdog also said the US strikes caused more damage at the facilities than previously thought. APThe US hit that site — along with one other — with cruise missiles fired from a nuclear-powered submarine as part of the Saturday strikes.
The watchdog group assured the world that there “has been no radiological impact” to the population so far due to the damage.
The full details of the contamination, however, cannot be properly assessed until IAEA inspectors can analyze it up close.
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To that effect, Grossi has called on Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to allow his agency back into the country to fully inspect the damage caused to Tehran’s nuclear program since the 12-day conflict began.
“Resuming cooperation with the IAEA is key to a successful diplomatic agreement to finally resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities,” he said in a letter to Araghchi.
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A key part of that inspection would see the IAEA try to locate some 900-pounds of uranium enriched to 60% that has been unaccounted for since the Israeli airstrikes began on June 13, Grossi added.
The agency warned that no one knows exactly where the uranium has gone. Vice President JD Vance said he believes that the atomic material was buried beneath the bombed facilities.
Experts have said that the enriched uranium could easily be transported, with satellite images capturing trucks traveling in and out of Fordow and other nuclear facilities days before the American airstrike.
