IAEA Chief Expects ‘Very Significant Damage’ at Iran’s Fordow Site

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on June 23 he expects “very significant damage” at Iran’s Fordow nuclear site.

“At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow,” he told the agency’s Board of Governors, which consists of 35 countries.

“Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme(ly) vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,” the agency chief said.

Grossi said in a statement that “the degree of damage inside the uranium enrichment halls can’t be determined with certainty.”

The IAEA has not accessed Iran’s nuclear facilities to inspect them since Israel struck key military sites in Iran on June 13, setting off an air war between the two countries.

“We need to try to go back to the negotiating table as soon as possible. We have to allow the IAEA inspectors to return. The IAEA is ready to play its indispensable role in this process. We have been talking to Iran, we have been talking to the United States. We have to work for peace,” Grossi said in a statement.

Fordow sits underground in a mountain range. Only the United States had the means to properly take out the uranium enrichment facility through bunker-buster bombs, as they had not only the weaponry but also the B-2 Spirit planes to drop the bombs.

The United States attacked Fordow and two other facilities on June 21.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social following the operation. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE.”

Trump has said that, in addition to Fordow, the Natanz and Esfahan nuclear facilities were “completely and totally obliterated” and that the damage to the sites “is said to be ‘monumental.'”

“The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine said there was “severe damage” done to the nuclear sites.

The entrances to the underground tunnels at the Esfahan site “were impacted,” the IAEA said in a statement. The buildings at the site “were damaged,” the agency said.

Trump reiterated on June 23 the extent of the damage done by the United States to the three nuclear sites.

“Monumental Damage was done to all nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”