There is no question that the storage facilities for the 400kg highly enriched Iranian uranium have been hit in the US and Israeli airstrikes; however, it is not known how much uranium was destroyed nor if Iran can reach the uranium that was not damaged, Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.
Israeli officials told the Post that they are almost certain Iran was not able to take uranium out of the nuclear enrichment facilities before or after the strikes. Still, it is impossible to say with complete certainty.
US President Donald Trump said earlier at a press conference at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, that all the enriched uranium Iran had was inside the sites that were bombed. "It is very difficult to move it," he said.
Earlier this week, IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said the Israeli military is closely monitoring the possibility of Iran moving its enriched uranium from sites that are damaged or destroyed to other sites, in response to a question asked during a press conference on Sunday.
Iran had claimed in the past that it had moved enriched uranium from Fordow to other sites, as reported by The New York Times.
The report added that 880 pounds of enriched uranium had been removed to 60% purity, below the 90% needed for nuclear weapons. Some 60% enriched fuel was stored at the nuclear facility in Isfahan.
Satellite imagery taken days before US strikes on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities showed trucks lining up on the road adjacent to the facility, nestled in Iran’s mountains.
Vance unable to confirm status of Iran's uranium stockpile after strikes
US Vice President JD Vance was unable to confirm the status of Iran's stockpile in an ABC News interview after Trump ordered airstrikes early on Sunday morning.
When asked about the status of Iran's 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium, Vance said that the Trump administration is "going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel, and that’s one of the things that we’re going to have conversations with the Iranians about.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi previously noted that “Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material,” and that the fuel was last seen by his inspectors just before Israeli attacks on Iran.