VIENNA (AP) — A confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog circulated to member states and seen by The Associated Press said Wednesday that Iran increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels before Israel launched its military attack on June 13.
The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said that as of June 13, Iran had 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 32.3 kilograms (71.2 pounds) since the IAEA’s last report in May.
The report stated that this figure is “based on the information provided by Iran, agency verification activities between 17 May 2025 and 12 June 2025 (the day preceding the start of the military attacks), and estimates based on the past operation of the relevant facilities.”
That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
According to the IAEA, approximately 42 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce one atomic bomb, if enriched further to 90%.
The confidential report also said Iran and the IAEA have not reached an agreement on resuming inspections of sites affected by Israeli and U.S. bombing in June.
It remains unclear just how much the Israeli and U.S. strikes disrupted Iran’s nuclear program. Israel targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, saying it could not allow Tehran to develop atomic weapons and that it feared the Islamic Republic was close. Iran has long maintained that its program is peaceful.
On June 22, the U.S. dropped bunker-buster bombs on nuclear sites.
On July 2, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law adopted by the Iranian Parliament to suspend all cooperation with the agency.
The only site inspected since the war has been the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which operates with Russian technical assistance. Inspectors watched a fuel replacement at the plant on Aug. 27 and 28.
The director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that “technical modalities to enable the full resumption of Agency inspection should be concluded without delay,” the report stated.
The report stated that while the withdrawal of UN inspectors from Iran during the war “was necessary given the overall security situation," Tehran's subsequent decision to cut cooperation with the IAEA was ”deeply regrettable."
As of June 13, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was 9874.9 kilograms (21,770.4 pounds) which represents an increase of 627.3 kilograms (1,382.9 pounds) since the last repot in May, the report said.
The IAEA said that since June 13, it has “not been able to conduct the in-field activities required to collect and verify Iran’s declarations used to estimate the changes to the previously reported stockpile.”
The IAEA also reported that inspectors have not been able to verify Iran's near bomb-grade stockpile for over two and a half months, which it called “a matter of serious concern."
Iran is legally obliged to cooperate with the IAEA under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The report detailed the discussions between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog to resume inspections over the past month and a half, stating that a technical team from the IAEA held discussions in Tehran with Iranian officials on Aug. 11.
The report states that on Aug. 14, Iran sent a letter providing a detailed draft of a “new arrangement,” under which the IAEA would have to submit its requests for inspections of undamaged facilities “on a case by case basis.”
With regard to damaged sites, the report states that Iran “undertook to provide the Agency with a report ‘up to one month after the finalization of this Arrangement.’” According to the Iranian proposal, only after the submission of such a report would Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog negotiate a new arrangement for cooperation.
The IAEA chief made clear to Iran that any cooperation arrangement must be in accordance with Tehran’s nuclear safeguards agreement that it has with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
The report said that discussion between Iran and the IAEA will continue in Vienna "in the next few days.”
The report by the IAEA comes at a sensitive time as France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Aug. 28 started the process of reimposing sanctions on Iran.
The process, termed a “snapback” by the diplomats who negotiated it into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, was designed to be veto-proof at the U.N. and could take effect in a month.
The move set a 30-day clock ticking for sanctions to return unless the West and Iran reach a diplomatic agreement.
European nations have said they would be willing to extend the deadline if Iran resumes direct negotiations with the U.S. over its nuclear program, allows U.N. nuclear inspectors access to its nuclear sites, and accounts for the over 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium the U.N. watchdog says it has.
So far, none of these conditions have been met by Iran.
FILE - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Grossi, addresses the media after arriving at the Vienna International Airport in Schwechat, Austria, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
FILE - A national flag of Iran waves in front of the building of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, in Vienna, Austria, Friday, Dec. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Gruber, File)
PROVO, Utah (AP) — The Utah man charged with killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk returned to court Friday, as his attorneys sought to disqualify prosecutors because the daughter of a deputy county attorney involved in the case attended the rally where Kirk was shot.
Defense attorneys say the relationship represents a conflict of interest after prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson for aggravated murder.
Robinson, 22, has pleaded not guilty in the Sept. 10 shooting of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, just a few miles north of the Provo courthouse.
The director of a state council that trains prosecutors said he doubted the disqualification attempt would succeed, and he was unaware of any major case where attorneys had been disqualified for bias.
“I would bet against the defense winning this motion,” said Utah Prosecution Council Director Robert Church. “They’ve got to a show a substantial amount of prejudice and bias.”
The prosecutor’s daughter, 18, who attended the event where Kirk was shot, later texted with her father in the Utah County Attorney’s Office to describe the chaotic events around the shooting, according to court filings and testimony.
Robinson's attorneys say the close connection between the prosecution team and a person present for Kirk's killing “raises serious concerns about past and future prosecutorial decision-making in this case,” according to court documents.
They also argue that the “rush” to seek the death penalty against Robinson is evidence of “strong emotional reactions” by the prosecution and merits the disqualification of the entire team.
Defense attorney Richard Novak urged Judge Tony Graf on Friday to bring in the state attorney general’s office in place of Utah County prosecutors to address the conflict of interest. Novak said it was problematic for county prosecutors to litigate on behalf of the state while defending their aptness to remain on the case.
Utah County Attorney Richard Gray replied that Novak’s last-minute request was aimed at delaying the case against Robinson.
“This is ambush and another stalling tactic to delay these proceedings,” Gray said.
Several thousand people attended the outdoor rally where Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA who helped mobilize young people to vote for President Donald Trump, was shot as he took questions from the audience. The daughter of the deputy county attorney did not see the shooting, according to an affidavit submitted by prosecutors.
“While the second person in line was speaking with Charlie, I was looking around the crowd when I heard a loud sound, like a pop. Someone yelled, ‘he’s been shot,’ ” she stated in the affidavit.
The child, a student at Utah Valley University, later texted a family group chat to say “CHARLIE GOT SHOT.” In the aftermath of the shooting, she did not miss classes or other activities, and reported no lasting trauma “aside from being scared at the time,” the affidavit said.
Prosecutors have asked Judge Graf to deny the disqualification request.
“Under these circumstances, there is virtually no risk, let alone a significant risk, that it would arouse such emotions in any father-prosecutor as to render him unable to fairly prosecute the case,” county attorney Gray said in a filing.
Gray also said the child was “neither a material witness nor a victim in the case” and that “nearly everything” the person knows about the actual homicide is mere hearsay.
If the Utah County prosecutors were disqualified, the case would likely shift to prosecutors in a county with enough resources to handle a big case, such as Salt Lake City, or possibly the state attorney general’s office, said prosecution council director Church. Judge Graf would have final say, he said.
Prosecutors have said DNA evidence connects Robinson to the killing. Robinson also reportedly texted his romantic partner that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”
At the school where the shooting took place, university president Astrid Tuminez announced Wednesday that she will be stepping down from her role after the semester ends in May.
The state university has been working to expand its police force and add security managers after it was criticized for a lack of key safety measures on the day of the shooting.
Prosecutors are expected to lay out their case against Robinson at a preliminary hearing scheduled to begin May 18.
Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
Fourth District Court Judge Tony Graf presides over a hearing for Tyler Robinson in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray addresses the court during a hearing for Tyler Robinson in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, sits beside defense attorney Kathryn Nester during a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, sits beside defense attorney Kathryn Nester during a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)
FILE - A U.S. flag hangs at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Sept. 17, 2025, over the site where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. (AP Photo/Jesse Bedayn, File)
FILE - Tyler Robinson, who is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Dec. 11, 2025. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
