(Rome = Yonhap News) Correspondent Shin Chang-yong = International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on the 23rd (local time) that the U.S. bombing is expected to cause"very serious damage" to Iran's Fordow underground nuclear facility.
In a statement released that day, Director General Grossi said,"Considering the explosive force of the bomb used and the centrifuges being particularly sensitive to vibration, the damage (to the Fordow underground nuclear facility) appears to have been very serious."
However, he added,"At present, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to fully assess the underground nuclear facility at Fordow." He also demanded that IAEA inspectors return to Iran's nuclear facility to determine the location of the highly enriched uranium Iran has accumulated since the U.S. bombing.
The US military used six of the seven B-2 bombers that flew from the US mainland to Iran to attack the Fordow nuclear facility with 12 GBU-57 bunker busters early the previous morning.
This nuclear facility is suspected of having a centrifuge-type uranium enrichment facility and storing highly enriched uranium of about 60% underground. Iranian authorities claim that the U.S. bombing did not cause significant damage except for the above-ground area.
