Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stockpile Currently Not Traceable, Says UN Nuclear Watchdog: Report

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog revealed that it is currently not able to trace the whereabouts of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

According to a Bloomberg report, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the organization cannot verify the location of Iran’s near-bomb-grade enriched uranium, amid an intensifying conflict with Israel.

When asked about the whereabouts of Iran’s uranium, Grossi said he’s not sure.

“In a time of war, all nuclear sites are closed. No inspections, no normal activity can take place.”

Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets defied geopolitical concerns to edge up in Wednesday’s trade.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.43%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.47%. Stocktwits data shows retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF has remained in the ‘bearish’ territory over the past week.

This comes at a time when the rhetoric between the U.S. and Iran has been intensifying, with the heads of both states threatening each other. While U.S. President Donald Trump demanded an “unconditional surrender” of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei warned the United States of “irreparable damage” if it got involved in the conflict militarily.

Iran’s nuclear program has been at the center of the ongoing conflict with Israel, its arch-nemesis. President Trump earlier said that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon,” while warning that Israel could strike the country.

After days of missile strikes, Trump expressed skepticism about Iran’s nuclear program, saying he was unsure if it even existed.

Since then, the President has repeated that he wants a “real end” to the nuclear issue with Iran, going so far as to recommend that it should engage in talks “before it’s too late.”

He also threatened that the U.S. knows the location of Khamenei, but said that his administration does not want to take out Iran’s top leader.

Trump has also warmed up to possible U.S. strikes against Iran. After initially refusing to talk about it, the President refused to divulge whether the United States would strike Iran or not.

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