Iran’s nuclear programme harder to track after war; Trump claims progress in talks

New Delhi: The risk that Iran may be covertly advancing its nuclear programme is now higher than it was before the US and Israel launched military strikes against the country in June 2025, according to a report based on new findings circulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

According to a Bloomberg report, international inspectors no longer have the same level of oversight over Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as they did before the June 2025 conflict.

Prior to the outbreak of the 12-day war, IAEA inspectors conducted frequent monitoring activities, including weekly inspections of Iran’s near-weapons-grade uranium reserves to ensure that the material was not diverted for military use. However, the destruction, disruption and restricted access that followed the conflict have significantly reduced the agency’s ability to independently verify the status and location of the nuclear material.

The development has heightened concerns among western governments and non-proliferation experts, who fear that reduced transparency could make it more difficult to detect any future attempt by Iran to move closer to developing a nuclear weapon.

While US and Israeli officials have argued that last year’s strikes degraded key components of Iran’s nuclear programme, questions continue to persist over the whereabouts of sensitive nuclear material and the extent to which Tehran may have preserved critical capabilities despite the attacks.

The IAEA has reportedly cautioned member states that the combination of diminished monitoring access and Iran’s existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium presents new proliferation challenges. Reports said the current situation leaves the international community with fewer tools to independently assess developments inside Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Trump signals progress in Iran talks

Amid the renewed concerns, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said negotiations with Iran were progressing positively and claimed Tehran had agreed to allow American personnel, working alongside Iranian authorities, to recover nuclear material buried beneath facilities damaged during the conflict.

“It’s very, very hard to get it … but nevertheless, I want to get at it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump also claimed that Iranian officials had altered their position several times during the discussions but indicated that Washington expected to gain access to the sites in the near future.

Araghchi denies negotiation progress

Iran, however, presented a markedly different assessment of the negotiations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there had been “no tangible progress” in efforts to reach a broader agreement despite ongoing exchanges between the two sides.

“Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process,” Araghchi said in remarks carried by the Tasnim news agency.

The Iranian minister also warned that any Israeli military action against Beirut could trigger a major escalation.

Separately, Iranian state media reported that naval forces had targeted the “command center” of a US destroyer in the Gulf of Oman in response to what Tehran described as hostile American actions in regional waters. The US Central Command later rejected the claim.