Iran Says US-Israeli Airstrikes Hit Natanz Nuclear Facility

This contrasts with the assessment of UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi, who said “so far” the agency has “no indication” that nuclear facilities have been hit in Iran.

Reza Najafi told reporters at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, where a special session of the Board of Directors was held at the request of Russia, “Yesterday, they attacked Iran’s peacefully protected nuclear facilities again. Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is just a big lie.”

When asked by a reporter which nuclear facility he was referring to, Najafi answered “Natanz”.

The Natanz field, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) south of the capital, is a mix of above-ground and underground laboratories that do most of Iran’s uranium enrichment.

Before the war, the IAEA said Iran was using advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium to 60%; That’s a technical step short of the 90% weapons-grade level. It is estimated that some of the material was there when the entire complex was attacked last June.

The main aboveground enrichment building at Natanz was known as the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant. The IAEA’s director general, Rafael Grossi, said at the time that Israel struck the building on June 13, “functionally destroying” it and repeatedly causing serious damage to the underground halls housing the centrifuges. A follow-up US attack on June 22 hit Natanz’s underground facilities with bunker-detonating bombs, probably destroying much of what was left.

IAEA says no nuclear facilities have been hit in Iran “so far” Speaking at a special session of the Executive Board, IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said the International Atomic Energy Agency has “so far” no indication that any nuclear facilities in Iran, including the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Tehran Research Reactor or other nuclear fuel cycle facilities, have been damaged or hit.

He added that, given the communication limitations caused by the conflict, the IAEA had tried to communicate with Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities through its Incident and Emergency Center “without a response so far.”

Grossi called for military restraint, warning that Iran and many other countries in the region were being militarily targeted, stating that “operating nuclear power plants and nuclear research reactors, as well as related fuel storage sites, increase the threat to nuclear security.”

He added that so far no increase in radiation levels above normal background levels has been detected in countries bordering Iran.

Najafi attacked Trump Najafi added that the US used “deception and disinformation to invade other countries.” He said that the war was started by US President Donald Trump, who “tried to present himself as a man of peace and wanted the Nobel Peace Prize. Even if they talk about peace, it is a lie. If they call for diplomacy, it is a deception.”

Najafi said that the attacks against his country were “illegal, criminal and brutal” and called on the states affiliated with the 35-member IAEA Board of Directors to “categorically condemn” the attacks.