“Non-state actors would face challenges in accessing enriched uranium, and it is unlikely they would have the infrastructure to enrich it to weapons-grade levels and convert it into the metallic form required for a warhead core,” she said.<\/p>\n
UN NUCLEAR CHIEF WARNS STRIKE NEAR IRAN REACTOR RISKS CROSSING \u2018REDDEST LINE\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Mourners gather around the flag-draped coffins of the Iranian armed forces generals, nuclear scientists and their family members who were killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, June 28, 2025. (Vahid Salemi\/AP)<\/p>\n “However, if the current Iranian government implodes or the conflict causes significant internal instability, there is an increased risk that nuclear materials will be stolen or diverted to undeclared sites.”<\/p>\n “There is also a risk that Iranian nuclear scientists may be willing to sell their expertise to states or non-state actors seeking nuclear weapons,” Davenport said in a new report.<\/p>\n Several senior figures in Iran\u2019s nuclear and defense infrastructure have been killed over the past two years, coinciding with the campaign of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities<\/a> between 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n Among them is Hossein Jabal Amelian, head of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), who was killed in 2026 during Operation Rising Lion and Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n ISRAELI MINISTER OUTLINES IRAN MISSION GOALS, SAYS IRANIAN PEOPLE NOW HAVE CHANCE TO \u2018REGAIN THEIR FREEDOM’<\/a><\/p>\n President Pezeshkian said Iran would rebuild the nuclear facilities targeted by the U.S., and make them stronger in 2025. (Iranian Presidency\/Handout\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n SPND is seen as the successor to Iran\u2019s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program and plays a key role in new weaponization research.<\/p>\n Others killed in 2025 include Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, Akbar Motallebizadeh and Said Borji, all linked to weaponization work.<\/p>\n “The full impact of this campaign on Iran\u2019s weaponization capabilities remains unclear,” Jim Lamson, a senior research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies,<\/a> told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n “There will be replacements of the managers and scientists, but the impact on the killed officials’ experience and expertise will be hard to replace,” the former CIA analyst<\/a> said.<\/p>\n “Many key scientists involved in suspected weaponization work were killed in 2025 and 2026.”<\/p>\n “Their successors may also fear being targeted in the future, whether by military strikes or assassination. That could affect their motivation and willingness to participate in any nuclear weapons program.”<\/p>\n AFTER THE STRIKES, HOW WOULD THE US SECURE IRAN\u2019S ENRICHED URANIUM?<\/a><\/p>\n Mourners carry the coffin of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohammad Reza Sedighi Saber. (Alborz Irani\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Lamson also said many of those targeted were embedded in sensitive areas of Iran\u2019s nuclear work, including the fuel cycle and weaponization.<\/p>\n “These scientists had expertise in areas of the nuclear fuel cycle of key concern for nuclear weapons, including the production of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which was Iran’s main pathway for fissile material,” he said.<\/p>\n “The scientists also had expertise in weaponization \u2014 that is, in key aspects of the design and production of nuclear explosive devices,” Lamson added.<\/p>\n That said, U.S. and Israeli targeted strikes have also hit<\/a> a network of sites tied to their work, creating extra obstacles for Iran\u2019s program in the near term, he said.<\/p>\n “We have identified at least 11 weaponization-related sites that have been hit since 2024,” Lamson said.<\/p>\n “These include SPND headquarters, a newly identified site called Min-Zadayi in northeast Tehran, SPND\u2019s Taleghan and Sanjarian explosives testing sites, the Defense Ministry\u2019s Shahid Meisami complex in western Tehran and several research universities.”<\/p>\n These facilities were all involved in neutronics, explosives, metallurgy and nuclear physics \u2014 all tied to nuclear weapons development, he said.<\/p>\n TRUMP\u2019S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY REVEALS WHAT LED TO BREAKDOWN IN IRAN TALKS BEFORE OPERATION EPIC FURY<\/a><\/p>\n Satellite imagery shows reinforcement efforts at Pickaxe Mountain site as Trump says Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons. (Vantor\/Reuters)<\/p>\n Despite the scale of the latest strikes, Iran retains enriched nuclear material, with President Donald Trump<\/a> saying April 17 that the U.S. would work with Iran to recover “nuclear dust” \u2014 enriched uranium \u2014 from sites, adding that both countries would use heavy machinery to remove it.<\/p>\n The International Atomic Energy Agency<\/a> also estimates Iran still holds more than 200 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% at Esfahan\u2014enough for roughly five weapons if further enriched.<\/p>\n Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi also said it remains “under the rubble” of previous strikes and that Tehran has no plans to recover it.<\/p>\n “It is always possible that Iran has additional sites that were not known to Israel and the U.S.,” Lamson said.<\/p>\n![\"Mourners](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/iran-commanders-funeral-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Iran](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Iran-Nuclear-Scientists-002.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Scientist](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Iran-Nuclear-Scientist-Funeral.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Satellite](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/iran-nuclear-site-pickaxe-mountain.jpg\")
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