The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessed that the bulk of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile is probably still located at the Isfahan nuclear complex. The site was struck by airstrikes last year and experienced relatively lighter attacks during the recent US-Israeli military campaign.

Rafael Grossi shared the assessment in an interview with The Associated Press. He noted that the IAEA possesses satellite imagery documenting the impact of the latest strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and continues to gather additional information.

Inspections by the IAEA at Isfahan ceased when Israel initiated a 12-day war in June of last year, during which the United States conducted strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. Tehran at the time suspended cooperation with the IAEA and barred inspectors from visiting the damaged sites, accusing the agency of bias and failing to condemn the attacks.

An agreement announced in September between Iran and the IAEA, intended to resume inspections and uranium accounting, has since been declared void by Tehran after Britain, France, and Germany triggered the return of UN sanctions previously lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal.

The UN nuclear watchdog estimates that a large portion of Iran’s highly enriched uranium “was stored there in June 2025 when the 12-day war broke out, and it has been there ever since,” Grossi told AP.

“We haven’t been able to inspect or to reject that the material is there and that the seals – the IAEA seals – remain there,” he said. “I hope we’ll be able to do that, so what I tell you is our best estimate.”

Satellite images captured by Airbus on June 9, 2025, just prior to the outbreak of last year’s war, show a truck carrying 18 blue containers entering a tunnel at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center. Those containers are believed to hold highly enriched uranium and are likely still inside the facility.

Grossi added that the IAEA also seeks access to Iran’s nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow, where additional nuclear material is present.

Iran currently possesses 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, a level only a short technical step away from weapons-grade 90 percent enrichment. Grossi previously indicated that the IAEA believes roughly 200 kilograms of this material is stored in tunnels at the Isfahan site.

Grossi emphasized that the critical objective remains ensuring “that material leaves Iran” or is down-blended to lower enrichment levels.

US President Donald Trump will be briefed Thursday by CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper on fresh plans for possible military action against Iran, Axios reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.

The briefing underscores that the president is actively weighing the resumption of major combat operations, either to break the current stalemate in negotiations or to deliver a decisive blow before concluding the conflict.

CENTCOM has developed a proposal for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure, with the goal of forcing Tehran back to the negotiating table with greater flexibility on the nuclear issue, three sources with knowledge of the plans told Axios.

A separate option expected to be presented involves seizing control of part of the Strait of Hormuz to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping. Such an operation could require the deployment of ground forces, one source indicated.

Planners have also revisited the possibility of a special forces mission aimed at securing Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

US military officials are also preparing for the possibility that Iran may retaliate against American forces in the region in response to the ongoing blockade.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine is also expected to participate in Thursday’s briefing.

The White House declined to comment on the planned meeting.

The report comes after Trump rejected Iran’s most recent proposal to end the war, telling Axios earlier on Wednesday that he intends to maintain a naval blockade on Iran until Tehran agrees to terms addressing American concerns over its nuclear program.

Trump indicated that, at present, he views the blockade as a more effective tool than direct military action, telling the news website, “The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing.”

Speaking to reporters later in the day, Trump said that efforts to bring an end to the war with Iran are continuing through telephone conversations rather than in-person meetings.

Speaking from the Oval Office, the president expressed frustration over the lengthy travel required to send American delegations to Islamabad for talks that have so far failed to resolve the conflict.

“We have talks, we’re having talks with them now, and we’re not flying anymore with 18-hour flights every time we want to see a piece of paper,” the president told reporters.

“We’re doing it telephonically, and it’s very nice. I make a call, or I have my people make a call, and you know the answer in 15 – I always like face to face, you know, I consider it better,” he continued. “But when you have to fly 18 hours every time you want to have a meeting, and you know what the meeting is all about, and you know they’re going to give you a piece of paper that you don’t like before you even leave, it’s ridiculous, and they’ve come a long way.”