Vienna: After last year’s West Asia conflict, monitoring of Iran’s nuclear materials has become markedly weaker, raising new proliferation worries despite President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran’s programme was “obliterated.”
A restricted 119-page International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report reviewed by Bloomberg warns the UN watchdog can no longer verify the whereabouts or status of a substantial amount of highly enriched uranium previously under regular inspection.
Western officials told Bloomberg the possibility that Iran could secretly pursue a weapons path is now higher than before the June 2025 fighting began. The strikes by the US and Israel, meant to weaken Iran’s nuclear programme, have also made it harder for the IAEA to monitor some of Iran’s most sensitive nuclear material, creating new diplomatic and security problems.
“The Agency can’t draw any conclusion regarding this nuclear material,” the IAEA document states. “This gives rise to a proliferation concern as this nuclear material, which the agency was not able to verify, includes a large amount of high-enriched uranium.”
Reduced Checks, Greater Uncertainty
Prior to the June 2025 conflict, IAEA monitors carried out weekly checks on Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium to ensure it was not diverted for military use. Those routine inspections have fallen off by more than half after Iran imposed tighter restrictions in the wake of the war. Inspectors still lack access to several damaged sites, including Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz — locations where 440.9 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and several thousand kilograms of lower-enriched material were last recorded.
Two senior diplomats familiar with the IAEA findings told Bloomberg that the longer these materials remain outside effective safeguards, the greater the danger they could be redirected for “non-peaceful uses.”
The report disputes the White House line that the strikes seriously damaged Iran’s nuclear programme. Trump officials say the programme was set back, yet the US is still exploring diplomatic solutions for the uranium stockpile, including exporting it or neutralising it under international supervision.
IAEA Chief: Avoid Unverifiable Deals
Diplomatic talks aimed at restoring a nuclear accord with Tehran are ongoing amid ongoing tensions. Some officials have criticised the Trump administration for excluding the IAEA from recent negotiation rounds, saying any deal without strong verification would be ineffective.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi emphasised that point in an interview with Al Jazeera. “We are not a party to this negotiation. We participated until the last round which ended in February,” Grossi told Al Jazeera. “Something that is not verifiable will lead to a bad agreement.”
The IAEA issued the warning ahead of its Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on June 8, when member states will examine the agency’s latest report. The concerns trace back to events soon after the IAEA raised alarms about Iranian activities; US and Israeli strikes followed less than 24 hours after a February IAEA report flagged activity near sites that were later bombed, and the June 2025 attacks came after the agency had censured Iran for poor cooperation with inspectors.
