Iran hiding its weapons-grade uranium stockpiles

The International Atomic Energy Agency has not been able to verify the status of Iran’s near weapons-grade uranium stockpile since Israel and the U.S. struck the country’s nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June, according to a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

The agency warned that it "lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the previously declared inventories of nuclear material in Iran” at facilities affected by the war and stressed that this issue must be “urgently addressed.”

The report stressed that the IAEA's “lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran for five months means that its verification - according to standard safeguards practice - is long overdue.”

The special report must also address the status of the facilities affected by the June war, noting that Iran has not granted IAEA inspectors access to sites affected, The Associated Press reported.

Tehran did, however, allow the IAEA to inspect undamaged facilities after Grossi reached an agreement with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Cairo at the beginning of September.

According to the IAEA’s last report in September, Iran maintains a stockpile of 440.9 kg of uranium enriched up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.