Israeli officials said Iran moved uranium and other equipment from the Fordo nuclear site before the U.S. airstrikes early Sunday, with growing evidence that about 880 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% purity was removed.
The New York Times, quoting two Israeli officials with knowledge of the intelligence, reported that the Iranians, with Trump's threats to take military action, moved the uranium, which was enriched to just below the 90% rate used in nuclear weapons, was not in the Fordo site when it was hit in a salvo of bunker-buster bombs during the airstrikes.
Instead, the fuel had been within another nuclear complex near the ancient Iranian capital of Isfahan, where it was seen by teams of United Nations inspectors a week before Israel started its airstrikes on Iran, said Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Grossi told CNN Sunday that "Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material."
Later, Grossi, when asked if he meant that the stockpile was moved, he replied, "I do," reported The Times.
The fuel stockpile reportedly is stored in small containers, fitting in the trunks of about 10 cars.
The Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said that it did not appear that the Fordo site was destroyed, which a senior U.S. official acknowledged. However, the U.S. official said that the site was taken "off the table."
Meanwhile, U.S. officials concede that they are not certain about where the material was reportedly moved, although one lawmaker, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., on Monday denied that the materials were moved and said that more uranium had been stockpiled at the Fordo facility because the Iranians "thought it was a safe place to be."
But earlier this month, Iran claimed it had another enrichment site "in a secure and invulnerable location," with experts believing the new site is under Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, a mountain a mile above sea level located south of Natanz, a site also targeted in the early Sunday raids.
If the material is at the new site, it could be buried almost twice as deep as it would have been at Fordo, according to experts.
The Times reports that satellite images released by Maxar Technologies and taken before the U.S. strike at Fordo show 16 cargo trucks near an entrance at the tunnels leading into the mountain. The Open Source Centre in London said in an analysis that the images suggest Iran was preparing the site for an attack.
The images did not make it clear if anything was removed from the underground facility.
Some items, such as giant centrifuges used to purify uranium, are bolted down, and one U.S. official said it would not be realistic to think everyone was removed from Fordo after the Iran-Israel conflict began.
The official also said that documents about the Iranian nuclear program were buried in the site, which could complicate efforts to rebuild it.
Meanwhile, the site in Natanz is older and larger, but was less well-protected than the Fordo facility.
The Israelis have hit Natanz repeatedly, destroying an above-ground enrichment center and disrupting its electrical supply.
Grossi said he thinks the interruption could have sent Natanz's centrifuges spinning out of control, destroying each.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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