IAEA says Iran nuclear picture largely unchanged after U.S.-Israeli war

The agency said it still could not verify the fate of Iran’s previously declared low-enriched and highly enriched uranium stockpiles for nearly a year, including material enriched to up to 60% purity, a level only a short technical step from weapons-grade. It also said it had been unable to return to the Iranian nuclear sites bombed by Israel and the United States, leaving some of the most important questions about Iran’s program unanswered. The IAEA said its overall assessment was largely unchanged from the reports it issued in late February.

That uncertainty keeps the uranium stockpile at the center of the standoff between Washington and Tehran. President Donald Trump has insisted that Iran give it up, while Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly described the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme as a core goal of the renewed strikes. But the IAEA report undercuts any suggestion that bombing alone has clarified how far Iran’s program has advanced or where key material now sits.

The stakes were already high before the latest war. In June 2025, Britain, France and Germany said Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% had grown by roughly 50% since the previous Board meeting and had climbed to more than 400 kilograms. They said Iran was producing just under one significant quantity of high-enriched uranium each month and argued that enrichment to 60% had no credible civilian justification. That same level of material remains one of the central proliferation concerns because it can be further enriched much more quickly than lower-grade uranium.