IAEA Chief Admits Iran’s Capture of Sensitive Israeli Intel

Date: 09 June 2025 - 22:00

News ID: ۱۴۰۴۴۰

LONDON (Dispatches) – The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said here Monday that the intelligence Iran has seized from Israel’s nuclear program “seems to refer” to the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, the first acknowledgment outside of Tehran of the bombshell.
The office of Israel’s prime minister had no immediate response on the remarks by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, who spoke during a news conference in Vienna.
Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib told national TV on Sunday that sensitive Israeli documents obtained by Tehran should be unveiled soon, describing them as a “treasure trove” which will strengthen Iran’s offensive capabilities.
Khatib said the “comprehensive and complex operation” was carried out inside the Israeli occupied territories and “achieved an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence of the Zionist regime and it was transferred into the country with God’s help”.
Israel’s Channel 12 said Iran has described the operation as a “painful blow” to the regime.
In his remarks on Monday, Grossi made no mention of Israel’s atomic arsenal, drawing attention only to Iran’s uranium enrichment.
The IAEA chief admitted that uranium enrichment is not inherently a prohibited activity, and that

Iran’s current stockpile of enriched uranium does not amount to the material needed for a nuclear weapon.

“Uranium enrichment per se is not a forbidden activity, which is something my Iranian counterparts always say,” he said.

“At the same time, when you accumulate and continue to accumulate, and you are the only country in the world doing this at a level very, very close to what is needed for a nuclear explosive device, then we cannot ignore it,” he added.

Grossi also said enriched uranium alone does not constitute a nuclear weapon, as constructing an actual explosive device requires intricate mechanisms, including triggers and other sophisticated components.

Asked about the potential impact of an IAEA Board of Governors resolution on Tehran-Washington talks, Grossi said, “There is no formal link between one thing and the other. But it is obvious, I think, for all of us, that there is an interrelation and perhaps a mutual influence. Not perhaps—for sure. It is a mutual influence.”

He also addressed the 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Iran.

“The JCPOA was designed to be applied to a very specific type of Iran program, which is completely different now, even if you wanted to revive it, it would not be enough because now they have new technologies,” he said.