The head of the UN nuclear agency said on Tuesday there has been no indication Iran has tried to repair or reconstruct its nuclear facilities damaged in US and Israeli military strikes this year or last year, the Associated Press reported from the United Nations.

Source: Associated Press via The Hindu BusinessLine

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi told a UN Security Council meeting: “since June 2025, we have not identified any activity to repair or reconstruct any of the facilities damaged in the military attacks of 2025 and 2026.” He urged Iran to give inspectors access to all nuclear sites, including those damaged in the attacks.

440.9 kgIran's declared stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% purity — a short technical step from 90% weapons-grade, the IAEA says
Since June 2025No repair or reconstruction activity identified at the damaged facilities
1 exceptionBushehr is the only nuclear site where IAEA inspectors are currently at work
Feb 28The date President Trump has said the US went to war with Iran this year, in part to deny Tehran a nuclear weapon

The other half of Grossi's message was a warning about what the agency still cannot check. The IAEA has not been able to verify the status of Iran's stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium since the US bombed its sites last year, and Grossi told the Council the agency still cannot confirm that none of Iran's safeguarded nuclear material has been diverted, UN News reported. “This can and must be rectified,” he said.

Source: UN News

Normal inspections have not resumed, UN News said: inspectors have not been able to return to the sites hit by Israeli airstrikes in June 2025 and joint Israeli and US attacks in early 2026, and satellite monitoring is no substitute for access on the ground. The one exception is the Bushehr nuclear power plant, where inspectors are currently at work and Iran's atomic energy agency has cooperated on safeguards equipment to verify spent fuel there before it is moved to dry storage, expected early next year. Of particular concern, Grossi said, is Iran's declared stock of 440 kg of highly enriched uranium, and the agency is also seeking access to the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant, which Iran declared just before the June 2025 strikes.

US President Donald Trump has said one of the major reasons the US went to war with Iran on February 28 was to deny Tehran the ability to develop nuclear weapons, even as he has insisted the strikes the US carried out on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 “obliterated” the country's atomic programme, AP reported. The White House did not immediately respond on Tuesday evening to a request for comment on Grossi's remarks. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Why both halves matter

“Only diplomacy, underpinned by IAEA verification, can prevent nuclear proliferation in the long term,” Grossi told the Council. No sign of rebuilding is not the same as a verified picture: until inspectors regain access, the location and condition of Iran's declared highly enriched uranium — the material closest to weapons-grade — remain unconfirmed, at the very moment Washington is weighing its next steps on Iran.