Iran’s underground Natanz site hit during Israeli strikes, says IAEA, warns of contamination inside facility

The UN’s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Tuesday (June 17) it now believes that the Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s Natanz enrichment site had “direct impacts” on the facility’s underground centrifuge halls.

This is the first time the IAEA has assessed damage from the strikes in the underground parts of Natanz, which is the main enrichment facility of Iran’s nuclear programme.

“Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz,” the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote on X.

While the full extent of the damage is still being assessed, the IAEA confirmed that one of the above-ground buildings at Natanz—the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant—was destroyed.

The attack also damaged the electricity infrastructure, including the main power supply, emergency backup systems, and a substation.

Agency warns of contamination inside the facility

Regarding radiation levels outside Natanz, the UN’s atomic watchdog said they remain unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no radiological impact on the population or the environment from the incident. However, it noted that there is both radiological and chemical contamination inside the facility.

The IAEA warned that uranium compounds, like uranium hexafluoride, may have been dispersed and could pose health risks if inhaled or ingested.

“The risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the affected facilities,” it added.

The watchdog further said that other major Iranian nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Bushehr, Khondab, and the Tehran Research Reactor, have not been damaged. However, four buildings were hit at the Esfahan nuclear site, including a uranium conversion plant and a fuel manufacturing facility.

“At the Esfahan nuclear site, four buildings were damaged in Friday’s attack: the central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and the UF4 to EU metal processing facility, which was under construction. As in Natanz, off-site radiation levels remain unchanged,” the IAEA statement said.