Where is Iran’s Enriched Uranium Now?

When Israel and the United States struck Iran’s nuclear facilities last summer, the goal was clear: cripple Tehran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon. The attacks damaged key enrichment sites and infrastructure.

But the fate of Iran’s most sensitive material—hundreds of kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity—remains uncertain, and much of it may still be buried deep inside hardened underground complexes.

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Jonathan Ruhe, a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, said the strikes dealt a major setback to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“The program was significantly set back compared to before the 12-day war,” Ruhe told JNS, referring to the Israel-Iran war in June 2025. “Its centrifuges, stockpiles, scientists and weaponization infrastructure were destroyed or buried last summer.”

According to Ruhe, Iran was not on the verge of an immediate nuclear breakout when the war began. However, it had been developing additional underground infrastructure designed to protect the program from precisely the type of attacks that ultimately occurred.

“Iran wasn’t ready for a breakout when this conflict started,” he said. “But it was installing two new subterranean enrichment-related sites that weren’t hit in June—one called Pickaxe near Natanz and another at Isfahan.”

These hardened sites have raised concerns among Western intelligence services and nuclear inspectors.

“Between June and now, the United States, Israel and the IAEA were concerned these facilities could secretly start rebuilding what Iran lost last summer,” Ruhe said.

Despite extensive intelligence monitoring, analysts acknowledge that the exact location of Iran’s enriched uranium remains uncertain.

“Not with enough certainty,” Ruhe said when asked whether the material can be fully accounted for. “Likely most of it is still entombed in underground complexes at Isfahan and possibly Fordow and Natanz.” He added that Tehran’s lack of transparency has long complicated monitoring efforts.

“Even before this war, the IAEA director warned that Iran’s obstruction of inspectors meant he couldn’t account for it,” Ruhe said. Speculation has also arisen about whether Iran might attempt to move nuclear infrastructure or expertise abroad.

“Iran might try evacuating key infrastructure or personnel to Russia, given Moscow’s longstanding nuclear cooperation with Tehran,” Ruhe said. “But Iran also has good reason to believe that Putin is untrustworthy in dire straits like these.”

For now, however, military priorities appear to lie elsewhere.

“Because the program was so set back, Iran’s nuclear sites are not the top priority right now,” Ruhe said. “Once Iran’s launchers and leadership are seriously degraded, the United States and Israel will have to figure out how to deal with the newer sites.”

One challenge is the depth of certain facilities.

Ruhe noted that the site known as Pickaxe was intentionally built deeper than many bunker-busting munitions can penetrate.

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