Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile was relocated from its key Fordow facility ahead of last weekend’s US airstrikes, according to preliminary intelligence assessments shared with European capitals, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
The move, if confirmed, would suggest that Iran retained much of its 408kg stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity — close to weapons-grade — despite US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
EU officials cited by the FT said Iran’s stockpile was likely distributed across multiple sites and not concentrated at Fordow at the time of the attack. One early intelligence report indicated “extensive damages, but not full structural destruction” at the underground Fordow facility near Qom.
The US has not provided definitive intelligence to European allies on the current status of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and Washington’s future diplomatic direction remains unclear, EU officials told the FT.
Talks between European ministers and Iranian officials had taken place just before the strikes, but follow-up diplomacy is stalled. “We’re in a volatile place where the E3 is waiting on the US, who appear to themselves be waiting on the Israelis,” one source said.
