"They haven't been able to get to it and at some point, maybe we will. We haven't gone after it, but it's something we can do later on. We wouldn't do it now. One of the stated aims of the attacks on Iran has been to rid the Islamic Republic of any capability to produce nuclear weapons."
"Publicly, US officials have projected confidence that they know where the uranium is stored. Privately, there is said to be less certainty. In the weeks before the latest US and Israeli strikes, monitors from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency observed sustained activity outside tunnels built into a hillside near Isfahan, where the material was last documented before the fighting began."
"That activity increases the likelihood that at least some of the 441 kilograms (972 pounds) of highly enriched uranium stored at the complex was moved, said a diplomat in the Austrian capital familiar with the agency's assessments. The stockpile is sufficient for roughly a dozen nuclear warheads if further refined, with the US saying specifically 11 bombs."
The Trump administration is evaluating military options to seize Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile amid concerns it may have been relocated. US and Israeli forces struck Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day conflict last June, but the operation complicated tracking efforts. UN atomic inspectors have not verified the uranium's location for nine months. While US officials publicly express confidence about the stockpile's whereabouts, private assessments indicate less certainty. International Atomic Energy Agency monitors observed suspicious activity near Isfahan tunnels where the material was last documented, suggesting possible relocation. The 441 kilograms of highly enriched uranium could produce approximately eleven nuclear warheads if further refined.
#iran-nuclear-program #military-intervention #uranium-enrichment #nuclear-weapons-threat #us-israel-military-operations
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