N-bombs: Before the US strikes, Iran likely removed 400 kg of uranium to safety!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Before launching air strikes at Iran’s nuclear sites on Saturday last week, the US had warned Tehran’s residents to move to safety. Many thought the warning meant to protect them from likely nuclear radiation. But the alarmed Islamic Republic is reported to have quickly removed the near-bomb-grade uranium stockpiles to safety before the US bunker-buster bombers struck three key atomic assets.
This speculation has now gone viral: Did Iran safely remove 400 kg of uranium, enough to make 10 atom bombs, before US strikes?
Even as Israel and Iran scramble through a shaky ceasefire brokered by the US, there are reports that Tehran may have ‘outsmarted’ America and moved 400 kg of uranium to a secret location before the weekend bombing of its nuke sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
According to media reports on Tuesday, this near-bomb-grade enriched uranium was stored in special barrels which could fit into the boots of 10 cars. Satellite images of Iran’s Fordow site showed at least 16 trucks at the entrance of that site before the US strikes obliterated it
Both US Vice President JD Vance and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi acknowledged the missing item – potentially Iran’s massive bargaining chip whenever they come on the table for peace talks, the media reported.
Vance told ABC that the near-bomb-grade uranium will be a key part of the conversations with Tehran whenever peace talks happen between the two parties. “We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel and that’s one of the things that we’re going to have conversations with the Iranians about,” he said.
The Vice President, however, pointed out that the US air attacks had set Iran’s n-bomb plans significantly back because Tehran no longer had the equipment, such as special centrifuges, to turn that fuel into operative weapons.
Grossi told CNN that Iran had made “no secret that they have protected this material.” Later, he admitted to The New York Times via text, that he was referring to the very 400-kg uranium stockpile. The IAEA chief also told The NYT that the item was last seen by his UN team of inspectors approximately a week before Israel launched its strikes on Iran 12 days ago.
The stockpile is 60 percent enriched, which is lower than the usual 90 percent required to make an atomic weapon. The item had been stored deep inside another nuclear complex, near Isfahan.
Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies showed extensive damage at all the three nuclear sites, with the after-visuals showing prominent holes, damaged buildings and dust.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly commended the stealth bombers, which dropped the 30,000-pound bombs on the sites, and boasted the move completely “obliterated” Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The sites were also the target of Israeli strikes as both Tel Aviv and Washington aimed to dismantle Tehran’s ability to obtain nuclear weapons.
The damage was evident, but the Israeli military’s analysts said the US strikes did not entirely destroy the sites. Also, a strange element in the before-and-after satellite images of Fordow following the US bombing has stirred buzz over whether Iran outsmarted America and Israel. The before-strike visuals showed 16 cargo trucks positioned near an entrance. However, the vehicles were nowhere to be seen in the after-satellite image.
The vehicles came and went over a 24-hour period, appearing to move unidentified items around a half a mile away. The US and Israeli intelligence officials reportedly knew about the movement at the time but chose not to act on it, and instead wait for Trump’s order on the strikes, the reports said.
The New York Post, citing Iranian state media, reported that all three nuclear sites were evacuated before the US strikes.
