IAEA chief: Extent of damage at Fordo unclear, but there are ‘clear indications of impacts’

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog says he does not know the extent of damage at the key Fordo nuclear facility after US airstrikes overnight.

“There are clear indications of impacts,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi tells CNN, “but as for the assessment for the degree of damage underground, on this we cannot pronounce ourselves.”

“No one could tell you how much it has been damaged,” he continues. He adds that because of observed changes in the shape of the sites, “one cannot exclude that there is significant damage there.”

Grossi says that the Natanz above-ground facility has been “completely destroyed,” while its underground halls “suffered a lot” because of cuts to electricity as the result of Israeli attacks.

The Isfahan site has also suffered “very significant damage,” Grossi says.

Fordo, says Grossi, would not be damaged by powers cuts because it has internal emergency electricity sources.

Grossi stresses that the IAEA “did not have elements to prove that Iran had a plan toward a nuclear weapon.”