Where Is Iran’s Enriched Uranium?
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the status of Iran’s nuclear program, an expanding separatist threat in Mali, and former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s ongoing legal saga.
Iran is believed to have around 972 pounds of highly enriched uranium stored across the country. On Tuesday, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog suggested that roughly half of this stash still resides in Iran’s Isfahan nuclear facility—despite U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly claiming that U.S. strikes on that and other sites nearly a year ago “obliterated” the country’s nuclear program.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the status of Iran’s nuclear program, an expanding separatist threat in Mali, and former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s ongoing legal saga.
Iran is believed to have around 972 pounds of highly enriched uranium stored across the country. On Tuesday, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog suggested that roughly half of this stash still resides in Iran’s Isfahan nuclear facility—despite U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly claiming that U.S. strikes on that and other sites nearly a year ago “obliterated” the country’s nuclear program.
According to Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 18 blue containers believed to be carrying roughly 440 pounds of enriched uranium entered a tunnel at the Isfahan complex on June 9, just four days before Israel’s 12-day war against Iran began. Less than two weeks later, U.S. forces targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities, including Isfahan.
Grossi said that, based on satellite imagery, this uranium—believed to be enriched up to 60 percent purity, just shy of 90 percent weapons-grade levels—is likely still at Isfahan. “We haven’t been able to inspect or to reject that the material is there and that the seals—the IAEA seals—remain there,” Grossi told The Associated Press. “I hope we’ll be able to do that, so what I tell you is our best estimate.”
Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whose five-year review is currently underway at the United Nations, Iran as a signatory is required to grant IAEA inspectors access to its facilities. However, IAEA inspections of Isfahan ended after the June attack.
Iran’s nuclear program was a primary reason why the United States launched strikes on Iran in late February, and it continues to be a major roadblock in peace negotiations. Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for civilian use only, and it has demanded the right to continue enriching uranium domestically. However, Washington maintains that any peace deal must include heavy restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, including a promise that Iran never develops a nuclear bomb.
This week, Tehran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz if the White House agrees to postpone nuclear talks and lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports. However, Trump told Axios on Wednesday that he plans to reject this offer, arguing that the Iranian regime must first address U.S. nuclear concerns.
“Iran can’t get their act together,” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Wednesday. “They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” Trump’s post included an artificial intelligence-generated photo of him holding an assault-style weapon with the words “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” displayed above his head.
The Trump administration’s handling of the Iran war came under intense scrutiny on Wednesday, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified publicly before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee for the first time since the conflict began.
Democrats on the committee accused Hegseth of mismanaging the war and misleading U.S. citizens about the reasons for fighting. “Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one, and so has the president,” Rep. John Garamendi said. Lawmakers specifically pointed to rising energy costs as a major threat to Americans’ livelihoods; the price of Brent crude briefly hit $120 per barrel on Wednesday.
Committee members also questioned the war’s massive budget, which acting Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst III testified has already cost $25 billion. Hurst told lawmakers that most of this money has gone toward munitions.
Hegseth defended the war and scoffed at such concerns, arguing that “the biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.” He and Caine also stressed the need for more drones, warships, and missile defense systems—in line with Trump’s call to increase military spending. Hegseth, Caine, and Hurst are due to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
Rebel threats. France urged its citizens to leave Mali “as soon as possible” on Wednesday after a Tuareg separatist coalition vowed to expand its campaign against the ruling junta. “The regime will fall, sooner or later,” Azawad Liberation Front spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane told the AFP on Wednesday, adding that the group seeks to capture the Malian cities of Gao, Timbuktu, and Menaka.
Over the weekend, Tuareg separatists and al Qaeda-linked militants launched a series of coordinated attacks across several cities in Mali, during which the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin group killed Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara. Bamako is facing a “moment of extreme gravity,” Malian President Assimi Goïta said on Tuesday in his first public address since the offensive began. Still, he stressed that the “situation is under control,” and he vowed to “neutralize” those responsible.
The widespread nature of these attacks has forced Malian troops and Russian mercenaries in the area to withdraw from the key northern stronghold of Kidal. Such a defeat marks the most serious threat to Goïta’s regime since he seized power in May 2021, and it exposes weaknesses within Russia’s security forces in West Africa.
More prison time. A South Korean appeals court sentenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol to seven years in prison on Wednesday for mobilizing the country’s security service “like a private army” to help him resist arrest. “In trying to stop authorities from executing an arrest warrant by use of force, Yoon committed acts that are unacceptable in a society of law and order,” the Seoul High Court judge said. Wednesday’s decision extends a previous lower court’s ruling, which called for five years in prison, over actions linked to Yoon’s short-lived martial law order in December 2024.
Yoon has been convicted of several crimes since being removed from office last April, including bypassing a legitimate cabinet meeting to impose martial law and fabricating official documents. In February, he was sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating an attempted insurrection. Yoon denies any wrongdoing, and his legal team vowed on Wednesday to appeal the most recent ruling in front of the country’s Supreme Court.
The Seoul High Court’s decision comes just one day after the same court increased a prison sentence for Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon-hee, to four years. In January, Kim was sentenced to 20 months in prison for accepting luxury gifts, including designer purses and a diamond necklace, from the Unification Church in exchange for political favors.
Unlocking frozen funds. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosted Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss ways for Budapest to regain access to frozen European Union funds. Currently, Hungary has just over four months to unlock around 10 billion euros (nearly $11.7 billion) in suspended EU pandemic recovery funds before they expire on Aug. 31.
The funds are part of a larger trove of assets that the EU froze due to rule-of-law concerns in Hungary under the outgoing Orban administration. Prime Minister Viktor Orban is an anti-EU populist leader with close ties to Russia and a history of cracking down on LGBTQ+ communities, press freedom, and political dissidents.
To unlock the money, Magyar has outlined four critical areas where his incoming government will pursue domestic reform: instituting anti-corruption measures, including rejoining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office; bolstering the judiciary’s independence; restoring media and academic freedoms; and resetting economic relations with the EU. Magyar, who takes office next month, hopes to direct at least some of these frozen funds toward the country’s national development bank.
Sri Lankan authorities arrested 22 Buddhist monks at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport on Saturday for attempting to smuggle nearly 247 pounds of cannabis products from Thailand into Sri Lanka. Customs officials allege that the drugs, worth around $3.45 million, were hidden at the bottom of the monks’ suitcases, which were packed with school supplies and candy. According to police, an unnamed businessman sponsored the monks’ trip with the intention of trafficking the narcotics; recreational use of cannabis is illegal in Sri Lanka.
This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage. Read more here.
Alexandra Sharp is the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy. Bluesky: @alexandrassharp.bsky.social X: @AlexandraSSharp
Commenting is a benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription.
Already a subscriber? Log In.
Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now.
Please follow our comment guidelines, stay on topic, and be civil, courteous, and respectful of others’ beliefs.
I agree to abide by FP’s comment guidelines. (Required)
The default username below has been generated using the first name and last initial on your FP subscriber account. Usernames may be updated at any time and must not contain inappropriate or offensive language.
I agree to abide by FP’s comment guidelines. (Required)