WASHINGTON: UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says Iran likely will be able to begin to produce enriched uranium “in a matter of months”, despite damage to several nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks, CBS News said on Saturday (Jun 28).
Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear and military sites on Jun 13, saying it was aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition the Islamic republic has consistently denied.
The United States subsequently bombed three key facilities used for Tehran’s atomic programme.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites is “serious”, but the details are unknown. US President Donald Trump insisted Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back “decades”.
But Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said “some is still standing”.
“They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,” Grossi said Friday, according to a transcript of the interview released Saturday.
