{"id":10515,"date":"2026-06-13T10:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=10515"},"modified":"2026-06-13T10:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:45:00","slug":"cnn-iran-is-even-restricting-its-own-access-to-enriched-uranium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=10515","title":{"rendered":"CNN: Iran is even restricting its own access to enriched uranium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran has proceeded in recent weeks with extensive fortification<\/b> of the facilities where its stockpile of highly enriched uranium<\/strong> is stored, dramatically increasing the difficulty of any attempt to retrieve or transport it. <\/p>\n

According to CNN reports, Tehran is reported to have destroyed access tunnels and placed landmines<\/strong> at the entrances to facilities where approximately half a ton of enriched uranium is believed to be stored, nearly weapons-grade. <\/p>\n

These moves came at a time when the president of the U.S. , Donald Trump, left open the possibility of a military operation to seize the nuclear material. Now, according to U.S. sources, access to the stockpile is considered much more difficult and dangerous than it was a month ago. <\/p>\n

The issue has become a key sticking point in negotiations between Washington and Tehran. In fact, a U.S. official claimed that the two sides are close to an agreement that would provide for the transfer of enriched uranium to the U.S., so that it can be destroyed and removed from Iranian territory. <\/p>\n

However, public statements from the American and Iranian sides remain contradictory, while the exact content of the agreement has not been clarified. <\/p>\n

The issue is also directly linked to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz<\/, which Tehran has effectively blocked, causing concern in international markets and renewed tension in the Middle East. <\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Isfahan in the spotlight <\/h3>\n

The international community estimates that the core stockpile is located in damaged or sealed tunnels at the Isfahan<\/strong> nuclear complex in central Iran. This is one of the most critical facilities in Iran\u2019s nuclear program and has been a target of the U.S. and Israel for years. <\/p>\n

Reports indicate that smaller quantities of uranium are also stored at other facilities in the country. <\/p>\n

The new situation complicates not only a potential U.S. intervention plan but even a consensual removal of the material. According to experts, access to the facilities would require heavy excavation equipment and demining procedures. <\/p>\n

The former head of the Office of Nuclear Material Removal at the National Nuclear Security Administration, Scott Rucker<\/strong>, stated that this information \u201cwould certainly complicate\u201d the recovery of the uranium. <\/p>\n

Fears of \u201chidden\u201d stockpiles <\/h3>\n

Analysts believe that Tehran is attempting to gain greater leverage in negotiations by creating uncertainty around the actual state of its stockpile. <\/p>\n

Scott Reker<\/strong> warned that, if Iran is asked to present a complete inventory of the material for verification, the Iranian side could claim that part of the uranium is now inaccessible. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt could argue that a portion of the stockpile is irrecoverable,\u201d he noted, leaving open the possibility that it remains unknown whether the material could be put back into use in the future. <\/p>\n

The same reports indicate that the U.S. Army had been considering operational scenarios for the seizure of the nuclear material as early as mid-May. Ultimately, the plan did not proceed, as it was deemed too high-risk. <\/p>\n

The removal of the uranium, should a final agreement be reached, is expected to require a special mobile processing facility under the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Oak Ridge laboratory in Tennessee. <\/p>\n

Even in the best-case scenario, however, the process will not be quick. Donald Trump<\/strong> himself has admitted that it will take at least two weeks to complete such a mission. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n In recent weeks, Iran has carried out extensive fortification of the facilities where its stockpile of highly enriched uranium is stored, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}