Reported by:
Cherry Meigh Timbol
News Content Editor
Published November 13, 2026
VIENNA. The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it is “increasingly concerned” about a uranium-enrichment plant at Isfahan that Iran declared to it last year but has still not let the watchdog inspect, according to a confidential report to member states that Reuters saw on Friday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had planned to inspect the plant on June 13, 2025, but the bombing campaign began that day, making the visit impossible. The report says the agency does not know the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant’s exact location, its status for safeguards purposes, or whether it contains nuclear material. It adds that Iran has also not allowed inspectors to see the plant’s design plans.
Bombed sites remain off-limits
Iran has not let IAEA inspectors return to any of its nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the United States in a 12-day campaign in June last year, which destroyed or badly damaged its other uranium enrichment plants. Inspectors visited Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant in September but have had no access to other key facilities.
Because of the lack of cooperation, the IAEA is not able to conclude that declared nuclear material has not been diverted from peaceful activities in Iran, the report said.
Stockpile of enriched uranium unverified
Before the attacks, the IAEA estimated that Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60%, a short step from weapons-grade. The IAEA said a substantial portion of Iran’s most highly enriched uranium is likely stored in an underground tunnel complex at the Isfahan nuclear site. The agency called its lack of information and access a matter of serious proliferation concern that needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency.
The report again called on Iran to report the status of its enrichment plants and its highly enriched uranium stock, and to let inspectors return to the bombed sites to account for the material.
Diplomatic backdrop
The IAEA board referred Iran to the U.N. Security Council in September, the first such referral in 20 years, for failing to comply with its nuclear reporting obligations. Reuters reported in May that two senior Iranian sources said Iran’s Supreme Leader had directed that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad.
The IAEA has acknowledged that the attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites created an unprecedented situation.
