IAEA Says Iran Has Not Tried to Rebuild Nuclear Sites Hit by US Strikes

Photo: Dean Calma / IAEA / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY)

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog told the Security Council on Tuesday that Iran has shown no sign of trying to repair or rebuild the nuclear facilities damaged in American and Israeli military strikes, an assessment that cuts against one of the central justifications for the war the United States launched against Iran in February.

"Since June 2025, we have not identified any activity to repair or reconstruct any of the facilities damaged in the military attacks of 2025 and 2026," International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said during the Security Council meeting in New York.

What the watchdog can — and cannot — verify

Grossi's finding is carefully bounded, and he said so himself. The agency has been unable to carry out its normal inspection work at most of Iran's atomic sites since the bombing campaign, and it has not been able to verify the status of Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium since the United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.

"As of today the IAEA has not been able to verify that there has been no diversion of nuclear material required to be safeguarded," Grossi told the Council, according to reports of the session.

The agency says Iran holds about 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity — a short technical step from the 90 percent level considered weapons-grade. Where exactly that material now sits, and in what condition, is something inspectors cannot confirm without access. Grossi urged Tehran to restore inspectors' access to all of its nuclear sites, including those hit in the attacks, and said normal inspection activity has not resumed except at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

The damaged sites at the center of the assessment include the Fordow fuel-enrichment plant, enrichment facilities at Natanz, parts of the Isfahan nuclear complex and the Khondab heavy-water research reactor, according to reporting on the briefing. Satellite monitoring has shown no reconstruction activity at those locations, but Grossi stressed that remote observation cannot replace physical inspections.

Why the assessment matters for the war's rationale

President Donald Trump has said that preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons was a major reason the United States went to war with Iran on February 28, and he has repeatedly claimed that the strikes the US carried out on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 "obliterated" the country's atomic program.

Grossi's remarks, delivered to the Security Council, echo a conclusion that former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard included in written testimony before a congressional committee earlier in 2026: that Iran's uranium enrichment program had been "obliterated" in the June 2025 strikes and that there had been no efforts since then to rebuild its enrichment capability.

The White House did not immediately respond on Tuesday evening to a request for comment on Grossi's remarks, the Associated Press reported.

The political backdrop

The assessment lands one week before the November 3 midterm elections, in which control of Congress is at stake. Trump has consistently downplayed the economic impact of the Iran war, which has emerged as a political liability for Republicans as fuel prices have risen, and has argued that higher fuel prices are worth paying to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

For now, the IAEA's message is twofold: no rebuilding has been detected, but the world's inspectors still cannot say with certainty what has happened to Iran's nuclear material. Until Tehran lets them back into the damaged sites, that uncertainty — and the argument over what it means — will remain unresolved.

Sources: Associated Press (Grossi's Security Council remarks, June 2025 quote, uranium stockpile figure, White House no immediate response, midterm context); The Straits Times (Grossi quote, Gabbard testimony, 440kg figure, verification limits); Business Standard (AP account of the briefing). Claims about the war's rationale are attributed to President Trump; the absence of detected rebuilding is the IAEA's assessment, not a verified account of every site's condition.