IAEA says entrances to tunnels at Iran’s Isfahan site hit by US strike

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VIENNA (Reuters) -Entrances to tunnels used to store part of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile at the sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex were hit in U.S. military strikes overnight, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sunday.

“We have established that entrances to underground tunnels at the site were impacted,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.

Officials have previously said much of Iran’s most highly enriched uranium was stored underground at Isfahan.

In a statement to the U.N. Security Council soon after the IAEA statement was issued, the agency’s chief Rafael Grossi appeared to confirm the tunnels hit were part of the area used for the storage of that stockpile.

“Entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit,” he said, referring to Isfahan.

Iranian officials have said measures would be taken to protect the country’s nuclear material without informing the IAEA. Grossi said Iran could do that in a way that respects its so-called safeguards obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“Any special measures by Iran to protect its nuclear materials and equipment can be done in accordance with Iran’s safeguards obligations and the agency. This is possible,” Grossi told the Security Council.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Chris Reese and Nia Williams)