IAEA has identified no repairs at Iran’s strike-damaged nuclear sites, Grossi says
Rafael Grossi says the agency has seen no repair or reconstruction activity at facilities hit in 2025 and 2026, while restricted access leaves Iran’s nuclear material unverified.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has identified no effort by Iran to repair or rebuild nuclear facilities damaged in US and Israeli strikes in 2025 and 2026, director general Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on 27 October. The finding matters because inspectors still cannot verify the status of Iran’s nuclear material, The Hindu reported.
According to The Hindu, Grossi said the agency had identified no repair or reconstruction activity at the damaged facilities since June 2025. He urged Iran to give inspectors access to all its nuclear sites, including those hit in the attacks. The assessment concerns activity the agency has identified; it does not establish the facilities’ full condition.
Why inspectors still cannot verify Iran’s uranium
The IAEA has been unable to verify the status of Iran’s stockpile of near weapons grade uranium since US strikes on its sites in June 2025, The Hindu reported. Bloomberg reported that the agency’s assessment of Iran’s nuclear activities remains constrained by its lack of access to most atomic sites.
Before those strikes, the IAEA calculated that Iran possessed about 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, according to Agence France-Presse. The stockpile’s fate remains uncertain. AFP said that level was above the 3.67% limit in the now defunct 2015 nuclear agreement and below the roughly 90% enrichment associated with weapons grade uranium.
In her Security Council statement, UK ambassador Sarah MacIntosh said the IAEA had reported in June 2026 that it could not draw a safeguards conclusion about the nuclear material, which it considered a proliferation concern. She said the agency was prepared to resume safeguards work in Iran at short notice and called for inspectors to return to every nuclear site.
Iran’s response at the Security Council
Iran’s UN representative, Amir Saeid Iravani, criticised the Security Council’s response to the US and Israeli strikes, AFP reported. He described the meeting as a double standard in which those responsible for the attacks escaped criticism while Iran faced scrutiny. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Grossi’s request for renewed access puts the immediate question before Iran: whether inspectors can return to the sites needed to account for its nuclear material. AFP reported that the agency has lacked access to key facilities since the June 2025 conflict.
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Sources and context
- Iran hasn't tried to repair nuclear facilities damaged in Israeli-U.S. strikes: IAEA chiefThe Hindu; Associated Press credit in page text
- Iran must allow the return of IAEA inspectors to all nuclear sites: UK statement at the UN Security CouncilUK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office / UK Permanent Representative to the UN
- UN nuclear inspectors see no evidence Iran repaired US-bombed sitesThe Straits Times; Bloomberg credit in page text
- UN nuclear watchdog chief urges Iran to grant accessAL-MONITOR; Agence France-Presse credit in page text
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.