Israel’s Strikes Leave Iran’s Natanz Centrifuges ‘Severely Damaged or Destroyed,’ IAEA Chief Confirms
by Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff
(Worthy News) – The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, confirmed on Monday that Israel’s recent airstrikes on Iran have likely inflicted catastrophic damage on the country’s uranium enrichment capabilities, delivering a major setback to Tehran’s nuclear program.
Speaking to the BBC, Grossi revealed that the Israeli strikes on Friday triggered power cuts that “completely destroyed” the above-ground facilities at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, and most likely incapacitated its roughly 15,000 centrifuges. “Our assessment is that with this sudden loss of external power, in great probability the centrifuges have been severely damaged if not destroyed altogether,” Grossi said. He added that there was “almost total damage to electrical installations” at the site.
While the underground centrifuge hall at Natanz appeared to have escaped a direct hit, Grossi emphasized that the power outage alone would have been enough to cause massive destruction to the sensitive, high-speed machines. The IAEA chief also warned of potential radiological and chemical contamination inside the facility, though he assured that external radiation levels remained normal and posed no immediate threat to the population.
Israel’s strikes extended beyond Natanz, with Grossi confirming destruction at four buildings in the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, including critical uranium conversion and fuel fabrication plants. “Four buildings were damaged in Friday’s attack: the central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and the UF4 to enriched uranium metal processing facility, which was under construction,” Grossi detailed. He noted that Isfahan’s underground areas, where much of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is believed to be stored, appeared untouched so far.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Fordow enrichment site and Khondab heavy water reactor sustained little to no damage, Grossi reported.
The IAEA has not been able to conduct on-site inspections since the strikes but is relying heavily on satellite imagery to monitor the damage. Grossi urged Iran to provide immediate and transparent technical updates, warning that without such information the UN nuclear watchdog “cannot accurately assess the radiological conditions and potential impacts on the population and the environment and cannot provide the necessary assistance.”
The strikes, part of what Israel calls a preemptive campaign to stop an imminent nuclear threat, have plunged the region into deeper conflict. Since Friday, Iran has fired approximately 350 ballistic missiles at Israel, according to Israeli military data, with most intercepted by missile defense systems. The attacks have resulted in at least 24 deaths and hundreds of injuries in Israel.
UN inspectors remain in Iran and are expected to resume site visits once conditions are deemed safe.
Israel maintains that the strikes were necessary to prevent Iran from reaching what it described as “the point of no return” in developing nuclear weapons. The situation has sparked global concern over the risk of further escalation in the already volatile Middle East.
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