Skip to Content

Featured

See All Reports

Global Studies

A collection of non-proliferation studies conducted by the Institute on groups of countries, their non-proliferation commitments, fissile material stocks, and assessments of global non-proliferation efforts and events.

LEARN MORE

Institute Books

A collection of Institute books on various countries' nuclear weapons programs, illicit trade, and fissile material production.

LEARN MORE

Posts & Reactions

Inst for Science

 

October 27, 2026

IAEA DG Grossi’s summary on the status of Iran’s *declared*  nuclear program is largely aligned with our observations in satellite imagery; post June 2025 there have been some repairs at the Natanz PFEP and the above ground Esfahan facility but we also assessed them to be unlikely for actual reconstruction and more likely for shielding from overhead observation. The key declared sites where enriched uranium storage and/or enrichment took place at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan remain non-operational.  We do have concerns about sites associated with Iran’s UNDECLARED program however, past and present.  DG Grossi does not explain which sites the IAEA is monitoring when referring to "locations associated with [Iran's] past undeclared nuclear programme."  But it should include Taleghan 2, which is actively undergoing reconstruction, and Minzadayi, which sees high levels of activity around the site. The former was part of Iran’s crash nuclear weapons program codenamed Amad and investigated but never visited by the IAEA. The IAEA did find uranium particles at the building next door (Taleghan 1), despite intensive sanitization efforts, that were never adequately explained.  Taleghan 2 was linked to nuclear weapons relevant work as recently as 2024. Minzadayi was targeted by the IDF in March 2026 for its role in Iran’s most recent nuclear weapons capabilities and was linked in public reporting to metallurgy and to the Turquz Abad site, which is part of an ongoing IAEA investigation.  

Also not mentioned explicitly by DG Grossi is the status of surviving centrifuges and Pickaxe Mountain, where centrifuges and components were moved according to @WSJ reporting on Israeli intelligence. Together with the enriched uranium, these are critical elements of Iran's nuclear program that could provide Iran a path to reconstitute its capabilities outside of declared facilities.

Quote from DG Grossi today: "As stated in my reports to the Board of Governors, the IAEA continues to monitor activities at Iran’s declared nuclear facilities and locations associated with its past undeclared nuclear programme. Also, and since June 2025, we have not identified any activity to repair or reconstruct any of the facilities damaged in the military attacks of 2025 and 2026."

Read the tweet here.

You can also follow our expert on X:David Albright (@DAVIDHALBRIGHT1);Sarah Burkhard (@SarahBurkhard);Spencer Faragasso (@SFnuclear)

 

 

Back to top