Washington(National Times)- Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, saying it was aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon \u2014 an ambition the Islamic republic has consistently denied. The United States subsequently bombed three key facilities used for Tehran\u2019s atomic program. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the extent of the damage to the nuclear sites is \u201cserious,\u201d but the details are unknown. US President Donald Trump insisted Iran\u2019s nuclear program had been set back \u201cdecades.\u201d But Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said \u201csome is still standing.\u201d \u201cThey can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that,\u201d Grossi said Friday, according to a transcript of the interview released Saturday. Another key question is whether Iran was able to relocate some or all of its estimated 408.6-kilo (900-pound) stockpile of highly enriched uranium before the attacks. The uranium in question is enriched to 60 percent \u2014 above levels for civilian usage but still below weapons grade. That material, if further refined, would theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs. Grossi admitted to CBS: \u201cWe don\u2019t know where this material could be.\u201d \u201cSo some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be at some point a clarification,\u201d he said in the interview. For now, Iranian lawmakers voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA and Tehran rejected Grossi\u2019s request for a visit to the damaged sites, especially Fordo, the main uranium enrichment facility. \u201cWe need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where is it and what happened,\u201d Grossi said. In a separate interview with Fox News\u2019s \u201cSunday Morning Futures\u201d program, Trump said he did not think the stockpile had been moved. \u201cIt\u2019s a very hard thing to do plus we didn\u2019t give much notice,\u201d he said, according to excerpts of the interview. \u201cThey didn\u2019t move anything.\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday underscored Washington\u2019s support for \u201cthe IAEA\u2019s critical verification and monitoring efforts in Iran,\u201d commending Grossi and his agency for their \u201cdedication and professionalism.\u201d The full Grossi interview will air on \u201cFace the Nation with Margaret Brennan\u201d on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington(National Times)- Israel launched a bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear and military sites on June 13, saying it was aimed at keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon \u2014 an ambition the Islamic republic has consistently denied. The United States subsequently bombed three key facilities used for Tehran\u2019s atomic program. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n