- Iran hints it still has 400kg of 60 per cent enriched uranium after US strikes on its nuclear facilities
- Iran's foremost atomic scientist said plans for restarting nuclear facilities had been 'prepared in advance'
- US and Israeli intel believe the uranium - enough to make 10 nukes - was moved to a secret underground site
Iran still has stocks of enriched uranium - which is used to make nuclear weapons - and 'the game is not over', sources close to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told news agency AFP Tuesday.
The location of a stockpile of 400kg of the material - enough to make up to 10 nuclear weapons - is unknown after the United States' weekend bombing of three Iranian facilities.
The 'missing' uranium is 60 per cent enriched. At 90, it can be used in nuclear weapons.
Satellite photos and sources indicate that Iran most likely moved the uranium, and possibly some equipment to continue enrichment, to a secret location days before American B-2 'Spirit' bombers dropped 'bunker busters' on Fordrow, Natanz, and Isfahan, causing significant damage and destruction.
Shortly after the attack, red flags were raised about the location of the uranium, with US Vice President JD Vance and senior officials privately admitting they do not know, at this time, where it is.
READ | Fears Over Iran's Missing 400kg Of Uranium, Can Make 10 Nukes: US
Israeli and US intel believes the material - packed in special crates, each small enough to fit in the boot of a car- was loaded on to trucks and taken to another underground site, possibly near Isfahan.
Two Israeli officials, who asked not to be named, admitted this was likely what happened.
Images of Iran's Fordow nuclear facility before and after the US' 'bunker buster' attack.
However, Vance, speaking to Fox News, said he thought the uranium had never left Fordrow and now lies buried under thousands of feet of rubble and debris after the bombing.
Earlier, after Israel's first wave of missile attacks (and before the US' 'bunker buster' strike), Iran had threatened to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and insisted it would not be bullied into abandoning a nuclear programme that it has repeatedly said is for civilian use only.
'Taken Necessary Measures': Iran
After the US strike, Iran said it had taken "necessary measures" to ensure the programme continues.
"We have taken necessary measures and are taking stock of the damage caused by the strikes," Mohd Eslami, chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said in a statement aired on state television.
"Plans for restarting (the facilities) have been prepared in advance," he said, underlining Tehran's determination to continue despite US threats, "... our strategy is to ensure production is not disrupted."
Aerial view of an Iranian nuclear facility (File).
Does Iran actually have nuclear weapons, or weapons-grade nuclear material?
Officially, no. Tehran has insisted its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
But Israel disagrees and so does US President Donald Trump, who contradicted Tulsi Gabbard, his Director of National Intelligence, in insisting Iran is, in fact, building a nuclear weapon.
Trump also warned of more attacks if Iran does not agree to peace. "Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities have been totally obliterated. If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets..."
Iran, Israel's Ceasefire Flip-Flop
Meanwhile, Iranian and Israeli media both reported new missile strikes by the other today, jeopardising the hours-old ceasefire and prompting furious outbursts from Trump on social media.
Two explosions were heard in the capital, Israel's Mizan news agency said. The strikes took place minutes after Donald Trump said Israel had called off its attack in response to his command.
READ | "All Planes Will Head Home": Trump, Unhappy With Israel, Dials Netanyahu
"All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly 'Plane Wave' to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!" Trump thundered in a post on Truth Social after violations by both sides.
"I've got to get Israel to calm down now," he said as he left for a NATO summit at The Hague.
Iran and Israel had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the f**k they're doing," he said before turning away from cameras and heading to his helicopter.
With input from agencies
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