'Can't undo knowledge, capacity': IAEA chief claims Iran could restart uranium enrichment 'in months'; says it didn't have nuclear weapons

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi , has said Iran may be able to resume producing enriched uranium within months, despite recent airstrikes by the US and Israel on its nuclear sites.

"They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium, or less than that," Grossi, the director general of the IAEA said Friday, according to a transcript of his interview released Saturday by CBS News

Grossi said Iran’s capabilities and expertise in nuclear technology remain intact despite damage to several facilities. "Iran had a very vast ambitious program, and part of it may still be there, and if not, there is also the self-evident truth that the knowledge is there. The industrial capacity is there. Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology, as is obvious," he said.

Follow live updates: Israel Iran News Live Updates: Khamanei absent as Iran mourns top military leaders

"So you cannot disinvent this. You cannot undo the knowledge that you have, or the capacities that you have. It's a huge country, isn't it? So I think this should be the incentive that we all must have to understand that military operations or not, you are not going to solve this in a definitive way militarily. You are going to have an agreement. You are going to have an inspection system that will give everybody… the assurances that we can definitely turn the page," he added.

While Iran’s nuclear capabilities remain a concern for several countries, Grossi made clear that Iran does not possess nuclear weapons. "Let me be clear here… they have all these capabilities, but for the agency, first of all, they didn't have nuclear weapons. Okay? This needs to be said," he said.

He added that the IAEA had found unexplained traces of uranium at undeclared sites in Iran. "We had found traces of uranium in some places in Iran, which were not the normal declared facilities. And we were asking for years, why did we find these traces of enriched uranium in place x, y or z? And we were simply not getting credible answers. If there was material, where is this material? So there could be even more. We don't know,” he said. “This is why… I think we need to go back.”

Also read: US defence secy: No known intel that Iran moved its uranium

He also said that the IAEA does not know the current location of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

"We don’t know where this material could be," Grossi told CBS News. "So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be at some point a clarification."

Grossi added, "We need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where is it and what happened."

Iran has rejected Grossi’s request to visit the damaged sites, including the Fordoo facility, and its lawmakers have voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA.

Israel carried out a bombing campaign on June 13 targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities, saying the strikes were to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, a claim Iran denies.

The United States later struck three major sites linked to Iran’s atomic program. US President Donald Trump said the attacks had set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities "decades."

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged the damage was "serious," though full details are still unknown.

A major concern is whether Iran managed to move its stockpile of enriched uranium before the attacks. The country is estimated to have had about 408.6 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. This is higher than levels used for civilian purposes but below weapons-grade. If further enriched, this amount could be used to produce over nine nuclear weapons.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he did not believe the uranium stockpile had been moved. "It’s a very hard thing to do plus we didn’t give much notice," he said. "They didn’t move anything."