VIENNA (AP) — Iran has not allowed the United Nations nuclear agency access to its nuclear facilities bombed by Iran and the United States during a 12-day war in June, according to a confidential report by the watchdog circulated to member states and seen Friday by The Associated Press.
The report from the International Atomic Energy Agency stressed that it “cannot verify whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities,” or the “size of Iran’s uranium stockpile at the affected nuclear facilities.”
Iran has four declared enrichment facilities, but the report warned that because of the lack of access, the IAEA “cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran.”
The report stressed that the “loss of continuity of knowledge ... needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency.”
Iran has long insisted its program is peaceful, but the IAEA and Western nations say Tehran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003. The U.S. is seeking a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons.
The IAEA reported that Iran had informed the agency in a letter dated Feb. 2 that normal safeguards were “legally untenable and materially impracticable,” as a result of threats and ”acts of aggression."
The confidential report also said Friday that Iran did provide access to IAEA inspectors “to each of the unaffected nuclear facilities at least once" since June 2025, with the exception of a power plant at Karun that is under construction.
Iran is legally obliged to cooperate with the IAEA under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but suspended all cooperation after the war with Israel.
According to the IAEA, Iran maintains a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned in a recent interview with the AP. He added that it doesn’t mean that Iran has such a weapon.
Such highly enriched nuclear material should normally be verified every month, according to the IAEA’s guidelines.
In the absence of direct access to the nuclear sites, the IAEA turned to commercially available satellite imagery.
Observation of the Isfahan facility, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) southeast of Tehran, showed “regular vehicular activity” around the entrance to a tunnel complex used to store enriched material, the report said.
Isfahan was struck by both Israel and the United States in June.
The IAEA said it also observed activity at the enrichment sites in Natanz and Fordow, but added that “without access to these facilities it is not possible for the Agency to confirm the nature and the purpose of the activities.”
The IAEA reported on Friday that Grossi attended negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on Feb. 17 and Feb. 26 in Geneva at which he “provided advice" on the verification of Iran’s nuclear program. The report said that those negotiations are “ongoing."
Thursday's talks, the third round this year under Omani mediation, ended without a deal, leaving the danger of another Mideast war on the table as the U.S. has gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the region.
An Omani official said lower-level technical talks would continue next week in Vienna, the home of the IAEA. The agency is likely to be critical in any deal.
Iran says it is not pursuing weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment on its soil or hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Similar talks last year between the U.S. and Iran about Iran’s nuclear program broke down after the start of the war in June. Before then, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity.
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FILE - Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi looks on during a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at Tahrir Palace in Cairo, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scouting America will alter several policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including one targeting transgender youths, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday as he pushes a campaign against military support for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the Defense Department in January, which included discontinuing its Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge as well as waiving registration fees for the children of military personnel.
Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military’s partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of “woke culture” efforts that he wants to root out.
Hegseth said in a video posted on X that the Pentagon will “vigorously review” the changes the organization has made in six months and will cease its support of Scouting America if it fails to comply.
“We hope that doesn’t happen, but it could,” Hegseth said. “Ideally I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.”
In a statement released Friday, Scouting America didn't mention the policy change targeting transgender youths, but it noted its need to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump that targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Scouting America, which is based in Irving, Texas, also pointed out that it maintained its new Scouting America name and “preserved our service to the more than 200,000 girls who participate in our programs.”
The organization began allowing gay youth in 2013, ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015 and announced in 2017 that it would accept transgender students. It began accepting girls as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program — renamed Scouts BSA — in 2019. As of May 2024, more than 6,000 girls had earned the coveted Eagle Scout rank.
Scouting America said the policy changes deepen the organization's century-old partnership with the military, which has included Scouts meeting on or near military installations in the U.S. and abroad.
“Scouting America is one of the most reliable pipelines to the United States Armed Forces our country has ever known," the organization added. “Scouts are significantly more likely to serve in uniform than the general population. Eagle Scouts are heavily represented in ROTC programs, service academies and military leadership tracks.”
The Pentagon said in a statement earlier this month that it was reviewing its relationship with Scouting America, claiming it had “lost its way” in many ways and calling the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts “unacceptable.”
“Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration,” the Feb. 6 statement said, ”including an embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances.”
The Pentagon previously said it and Scouting America were nearing an agreement to continue their partnership if the organization “rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms.”
“Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles,” the statement said. “Back to God and country—immediately!"
The U.S. military and the Boy Scouts have had longtime ties, including the military providing logistical support for the National Boy Scout Jamboree since its inception in 1937.
The military also has a long history of sponsoring Scout troops and activities on U.S. military bases and has maintained a strong relationship with the Eagle Scouts, whose members often enlist in the armed forces.
In a statement last year, Scouting America raised concerns following a report from NPR that the Pentagon planned to cut support for Scouting programs on military bases as well as for the National Jamboree and would eliminate increases in pay grade for Eagle Scouts who enlist.
The Scouts told Hegseth in January that after hearing his suggestions, they had come up with a plan for him to review, which included discontinuing their Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge, waiving registration fees for military personnel and holding a ceremony to rededicate themselves to leadership, duty to God, duty to country and service, besides dissolving their DEI board committee.
Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America achieved a vaunted status in the U.S. over the decades, with pinewood derbies, the Scout Oath and Eagle Scouts becoming part of the lexicon.
Lore has it that American businessman William Boyce was inspired to start the organization after he became lost in the fog in London and was guided to his destination by a youth who turned down a tip, telling Boyce that because he was a scout (they were formed in Britain in 1907) he couldn’t accept money for a good deed.
Since then, the organization has faced controversies and undergone significant changes.
In 1990, the organization expelled an Eagle Scout who had become an assistant scoutmaster after discovering he was co-president of his university’s gay and lesbian organization. He sued in 1992 alleging discrimination and lost at the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Scouts could maintain membership and leadership criteria that excluded gay people.
Conservative groups rallied around the Boy Scouts, but scores of institutions curtailed support as the ban continued. The ban ended in 2013. In 2015, the organization ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
In 2017, the Boy Scouts announced that they would allow transgender children who identify as boys to enroll in their boys-only programs. That came after an 8-year-old was asked to leave his Scout troop in New Jersey after parents and leaders found out he was transgender.
The Boy Scouts also faced a flood of sexual abuse claims and sought bankruptcy protection in 2020, when it had been named in about 275 lawsuits and had told insurers it was aware of another 1,400 claims.
In 2023, a judge upheld the $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan allowing the organization to keep operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who filed claims saying they were sexually abused while in scouting.
Last year, Scouting America’s President and CEO Roger Krone acknowledged some backlash to the rebrand but described the overall response as a positive one that generated wider interest.
“The fact that we were going with a more kind of gender-neutral name, a lot of people kind of wanted to know more about it,” Krone said.
The organization said it saw a gain in membership of about 16,000 new scouts, less than 2% from the prior year. The organization said at the time that it had just over 1 million members.
Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth enters the House Chamber before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
