While UN Issues mixed signals, Witkoff exposes Iran's nuclear evasion ‘pride’

The stunning details revealed by Steve Witkoff connected his talks with Iran and their boastful remarks astir its atomic programme person seemingly fallen connected deaf ears astatine the U.N. atomic agency.

Days into the U.S.-Israel associated run against Iran, the manager wide of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi posted to X stating, "There has been nary grounds of Iran gathering a atomic bomb."

Fox News Digital asked the IAEA however it could measure the improvement of a imaginable atomic limb without entree to Iran’s facilities but received nary effect astatine property time.

Grossi's station came arsenic the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff gave details to Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this week connected his talks with the authorities anterior to the U.S. and Israel launching their subject cognition against Tehran.

Witkoff revealed the negotiators said they had an "inalienable right" to enrich uranium. When Witkoff countered that the Trump medication had the "inalienable close to halt [them, ]" helium explained that the negotiators said this was lone their starting point.

"They person 10,000, roughly, kilograms of fissionable worldly that's breached up into astir 460 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, different 1,000 kilograms 20% enriched uranium," Witkoff explained. "They manufacture their ain centrifuges to enrich this material, truthful there's astir nary stopping them. They person an endless proviso of it. The 60% worldly tin beryllium brought to 90% - that's limb people — successful astir 1 week, possibly 10 days astatine the outside. The 20% tin beryllium brought to weapons people wrong of 3 to 4 weeks."

Witkoff added that during his archetypal gathering with the negotiators, they said "with nary shame that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60% and they're alert that that could marque 11 atomic bombs, and that was the opening of this negotiating stance."

"They were arrogant of it. They were arrogant that they had evaded each sorts of oversight protocols to get to a spot wherever they could present 11 atomic bombs," Witkoff said.

US peculiar Envoy Steve Witkoff arrives to his edifice during caller circular of talks betwixt the United States and Iran connected Iran's atomic programme, successful Geneva connected February 26, 2026. ( Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Image)

Grossi, who is moving to go the adjacent United Nations caput general, did nevertheless admit successful his station connected X that Iran maintains "a ample stockpile of near-weapons people enriched uranium" and said that the Islamic Republic has not allowed inspectors afloat entree to its program. With these facts successful mind, helium said that the IAEA "will not beryllium successful a presumption to supply assurance that Iran’s atomic programme is exclusively peaceful" until Iran "assists…in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues."

Richard Goldberg, a elder advisor to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, FDD, told Fox News Digital, "No 1 paid overmuch attraction to Rafael Grossi passim the Biden years erstwhile helium repeatedly warned publically that Iran was refusing to cooperate with and providing mendacious statements to the IAEA astir ongoing investigations into undeclared facilities, activists and atomic material."

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The erstwhile Trump medication authoritative said, "There are immoderate cardinal facts being ignored today. The IAEA committee past twelvemonth recovered Iran to beryllium successful breach of the NPT. To this day, Grossi has confirmed that the IAEA cannot verify the Iranian atomic programme is peaceful."

He continued, "This is not Iraq wherever we lacked hard nationalist grounds of a atomic weapons program. Iran had built retired astir each portion of its atomic weapons programme successful plain sight, with the weaponization enactment moving guardant astatine undeclared sites controlled by SPND. If the medication had grounds the authorities was moving rapidly to reconstitute cardinal elements of that programme — from precocious centrifuge manufacturing to completion of a caller underground enrichment tract alongside advancement of transportation conveyance programs - the president was afloat justified successful enforcing a reddish enactment helium acceptable aft Operation Midnight Hammer."

Map of Iran atomic facilities attacked by the US successful Operation Midnight Hammer. (Fox News)

Spencer Faragasso, a elder chap astatine the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), told Fox News Digital that his enactment calculated anterior to the June 2025 12 Day War that Iran possessed 440.9 kilograms of 60% affluent uranium. With astir 24 oregon 25 kilograms of 90% affluent uranium required per weapon, Faragasso said the state possessed the quality to nutrient 11 weapons successful 1 month.

Faragasso said that determination stay questions astir whether the Iranians tin entree their enriched materials, and whether they person further centrifuges that whitethorn person not been installed successful the facilities that were struck.

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"Being capable to enrich the uranium up to limb people is really a gangly order," helium said, explaining that it would necessitate a caller enrichment tract and components and materials that "Iran would either request to retrieve from its destroyed facilities" oregon "illicitly import them from abroad." With a fewer 100 centrifuges, capable for 2 oregon 3 cascades, Faragasso said the Iranians could person enriched their uranium stores to limb grade.

"To beryllium clear, the successes gained from the June warfare are not imperishable and officials from the authorities spoke publically astir however they wanted to reconstitute their enrichment program, their atomic program," helium said. "The much clip that goes on, the worse the concern volition get. It’s not going to get better, particularly regarding the ballistic rocket program."

Satellite imagery taken connected January 30, 2026 shows a caller extortion implicit a antecedently destroyed gathering astatine Natanz atomic site. (2026 PLANET LABS PBC/Handout via REUTERS)

He said the Iranians had antecedently expressed the tendency to unfastened a 4th enrichment site, which the IAEA stated was astatine Esfahan. According to Faragasso, determination was "never confirmation" of wherever the tract was oregon however acold on operation whitethorn person been.

The radical is present tracking an Israeli onslaught connected March 3 connected Min-Zadayi, a tract that Faragasso said "was wholly unknown" to them previously. The Israel Defense Forces reported connected X that the tract was "used by a radical of atomic scientists who operated to make a cardinal constituent for atomic weapons." 

The State Department referred Fox News Digital to remarks made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the property connected Tuesday connected Iran's atomic program. 

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"This terroristic, radical, cleric-led authorities cannot beryllium ever allowed to person atomic weapons." Explaining that the Islamic Republic was "willing to slaughter their ain radical successful the streets," Rubio directed members of the property to "imagine what they would bash to us. Imagine what they would bash to others. Under President Trump that volition never, ever happen," helium said.

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