UN nuclear chief says Iran not enriching uranium but recent activity seen near nuclear sites

Iran does not appear to be actively enriching uranium at the moment, though inspectors have observed renewed movement around several of its nuclear facilities, the head of the UN's atomic watchdog told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said inspectors have not had full access to the sites but found no satellite evidence that Tehran has accelerated enrichment beyond pre-war levels from before the 12-day conflict with Israel in June.

"The nuclear material enriched to 60% is still in Iran," Grossi said in an interview at the UN headquarters in New York. "We need to confirm that the material remains there and hasn't been diverted for other uses - this is extremely important."

He added that inspectors had detected activity around storage sites but lacked access to verify the situation. Satellite images alone, Grossi noted, can only provide limited information.

The IAEA estimates that Iran's stockpile of 60% enriched uranium could be sufficient to produce up to 10 nuclear weapons if weaponized, though Grossi clarified that Tehran has not developed a bomb.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, while the UN agency and Western governments assert that Tehran pursued a coordinated weapons program until 2003. The Iranian mission to the UN did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last month in Cairo, Iran and the IAEA reached a deal aimed at restoring cooperation and restarting inspections that were halted after the war with Israel, when the US. conducted airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Following the attacks, US. President Donald Trump claimed the strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program. However, early intelligence assessments later indicated that while Iran's Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities suffered heavy damage, they were not completely destroyed.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told lawmakers that the US. military had destroyed Iran's only metal conversion facility, setting back its nuclear program by years, and that much of Iran's enriched uranium remained buried beneath the rubble at Isfahan and Fordo.

Israel's surprise assault on Tehran came after the IAEA board voted to censure Iran for noncooperation - the first such move in two decades. Iran later accused the IAEA of collaborating with Israel and the US., and some officials even called for Grossi's arrest if he visited the country.

Grossi said the Israel-Iran conflict had severely disrupted years of diplomatic progress and derailed plans to inspect a third enrichment site. He confirmed that there is currently no active operation at the Isfahan facility.

Since the Cairo deal, the UN has reimposed sanctions under the "snapback" mechanism over Iran's failure to comply with international obligations and the collapse of talks with Washington.

Despite strained relations, Grossi said IAEA inspectors remain in Iran and that he is in "constant contact" with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

"Are they cooperating as they should? No," he said. "But it would also be wrong to say they are completely denying us access. The truth is somewhere in between."