All about Iran's 400-kg secret uranium move before US attack, enough to make 9 nuclear bombs

Iran claims it successfully moved nearly all of its highly enriched uranium to a secret location ahead of US airstrikes that targeted key parts of its nuclear infrastructure over the weekend.

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Reports suggest Iran had moved its 400-kg stockpile of 60 per cent enriched uranium, which had been stored inside Isfahan, to a secret location.

On Sunday morning, American B-2 stealth bombers and submarine-launched missiles struck three of Iran's most critical uranium enrichment facilities, including the heavily fortified Fordow site, which is buried deep inside a mountain.

However, Iranian officials say most of the enriched uranium stored at Fordow and other major facilities had already been relocated prior to the attack.

This claim, if accurate, could significantly complicate the United States' efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not been able to confirm the current location or condition of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.

The agency's Director General, Rafael Grossi, told an emergency meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors on Monday that the extent of the damage to Fordow remains uncertain but is likely severe.

“Given the explosive payload used and the extreme vibration sensitivity of enrichment centrifuges, we expect very significant damage,” Grossi said.

The Fordow plant, which had been producing uranium enriched to 60% purity,  just below the 90 per cent threshold needed for nuclear weapons — housed over 400 kilograms of this material prior to the strikes, according to the IAEA. That amount is theoretically enough to produce up to nine nuclear bombs if further enriched.

Grossi noted that Iran informed the IAEA on June 13 — the day Israel began separate strikes on Iranian nuclear sites — that it was taking “special measures” to protect its nuclear material. While international safeguards under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) allow for the movement of nuclear materials within the country, such transfers must be reported to the IAEA.

“In my response that same day, I made it clear that any movement of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility must be declared,” Grossi said.

“Iran has the right to take protective measures, but they must be in full compliance with its safeguards obligations.”

Two Israeli officials with knowledge of the intelligence told The New York Times that Iran had transferred equipment and uranium outside Fordow in recent days. JD Vance, the US vice president, hinted that the material had been moved at the eleventh hour on Sunday.

“We’re going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel,” he told ABC News. Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, rejected claims that Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, telling the German broadcaster ARD: “No one can tell us what we should and should not do.

With Reuters inputs