IAEA confirms entrance buildings at Natanz fuel enrichment plant damaged — no radioactive release

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Tuesday that there was 'some recent damage to entrance buildings' at Iran's underground Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), following earlier strikes by US-Israeli forces. The IAEA stated it 'expected no radiological consequence or additional impact detected at the FEP itself,' meaning the damage was confined to surface-level entrance structures. Iran separately confirmed through its Atomic Energy Organisation that 'no leak of radioactive material has been recorded at this complex, thanks to preventative measures and data logged by the monitoring system.' The IAEA finding aligns with satellite imagery analysis by the US think-tank Institute for Science and International Security published Monday. Natanz — Iran's primary uranium enrichment facility — had previously been targeted by the Stuxnet cyberattack in 2010 and bombed in June during the 12-day war with Israel. The underground FEP is built at significant depth and was specifically hardened against conventional strikes. The entrance building damage indicates strikes penetrated the surface perimeter without reaching the deep underground centrifuge halls. Trump had claimed the nuclear program was 'obliterated,' but analysts and the IAEA's assessment indicate it was degraded, not destroyed.