A senior Israeli official told Western media on July 10 that Iran did not move its enriched uranium stockpile from the Fordow, Natanz, or Esfahan nuclear sites ahead of the US and Israeli strikes on the sites.[1] The official told Reuters that Iran has not moved the material since the strikes either.[2] Israeli sources stated on June 25 that US and Israeli strikes buried Iran's enriched uranium stockpile under rubble.[3] Israeli strikes on June 13 damaged the Fuel Plate Manufacturing Plant (FPFP) at the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center, which stored approximately 85 percent of Iran's 20 percent enriched uranium stockpile and 83 percent of Iran's 60 percent enriched uranium stockpile as of August 2023.[4] It is unclear how much, if any, of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile was at FPFP at the time of US and Israeli strikes. Reuters reported that Iran could gain access to the Esfahan site, but that it will be difficult to remove any of the material stored at the site, according to the senior Israeli official.[5] The New York Times similarly reported on July 10 that the storage facility at the Esfahan site was too deep to be effectively destroyed, but US and Israeli strikes made it significantly harder to access the material by targeting tunnel entrances, according to a senior Israeli official.[6] Uranium is an element, which means that you cannot destroy it with conventional weapons, only scatter it or pulverize it into dust. The Israeli official said that Israel believes Iran stored additional stockpiles at Fordow and Natanz but that these will be too difficult to recover following US and Israeli strikes.[7] The US and Israeli strikes on Fordow and other enrichment facilities could have buried enriched uranium underground to limit access to it. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Iran cannot access certain key nuclear facilities to accurately assess the damage.[8] Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is effectively inaccessible, assuming that Iran did not move the material and cannot access the facilities it is stored. Senior Israeli intelligence officials said that any Iranian attempts to recover the material would “almost certainly” be detected.[9]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-july-10-2025
The call comes as it publishes the results of a major inquiry which examined Iranian state assassinations and kidnap, espionage, cyber attacks and its nuclear programme. The report took evidence up to August 2023 so does not assess the impact of heightened tensions since the attack on 7 October that year by Hamas on Israel, or the Iran-Israel conflict - but its authors say the findings remain relevant.
The committee raised particular concern over a “sharp increase” in physical threats against opponents of Iran's regime in the UK. The committee said there have been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap against British nationals or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022 to August 2023, when the report stopped taking evidence. In October last year, the head of MI5 put the number at 20.
The report's authors said they had been advised the physical threat was “comparable with the threat posed by Russia”.
MI5 said it has seen “persistent targeting” of Iranian media organisations operating in the UK - primarily Iran International - while BBC Persian and Manoto TV, which are broadcast from the UK, were also “prominent targets”. These are seen by Iran as “deeply undermining” of its regime, the committee said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98wjzj4jlpo
The report:
Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament - Iran
Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 10 July 2025
The Committee believes that it is important that Parliament and the public should be able to see where information had to be redacted: redactions are clearly indicated in the Report by ***. This means that the published Report is the same as the classified version sent to the Prime Minister (albeit with redactions).
The report provides a good background.
Iran Update, July 11, 2025
The operator of the Liberian-flagged Eternity C told the Wall Street Journal on July 10 that the British Navy and the European Union (EU) naval task force did not have ships near the Eternity C to protect it from a Houthi attack on July 7.[1] The Houthis have conducted two complex attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea in recent days, sinking both ships. The Houthis attacked the Magic Seas and Eternity C on July 6 and 7, respectively, using small arms, rocket-propelled grenades, and unmanned surface vessels.[2] The Houthis reportedly also used anti-ship missiles to attack the Eternity C.[3] The Houthis launched the small arms, rocket-propelled grenades, and unmanned surface vessels from small attack craft. Ocean swells can hide small attack craft on radars, making them difficult to detect. The large geographic area of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden that the British Navy and the EU naval task force patrol imposes constraints on the navies’ ability to respond to crises. A senior US official told the Wall Street Journal on July 10 that international efforts to protect shipping in the Red Sea have become “less robust” as fewer navies conducting patrols in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have the capabilities to counter Houthi attacks.[4]
Iran has reportedly asked the United States for support to develop a peaceful nuclear program, which is likely part of a continued Iranian effort to maintain domestic uranium enrichment. An unspecified senior White House official told the Wall Street Journal on July 10 that Iran seeks to secure sanctions relief and US assistance with a civilian nuclear program.[11] Iran would likely seek a US-supported civilian nuclear program to involve uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, given that Iran has not changed its position on the US demand for zero uranium enrichment. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi told French media on July 10, for example, that enrichment is Iran’s “right and need.”[12] The United States sought, before the Israel-Iran War, to establish a regional nuclear consortium outside of Iran that would provide Iran with uranium for civilian nuclear purposes but would not allow enrichment on Iranian soil.[13] Iranian officials stated that Iran was open to the consortium model, but only if the consortium’s enrichment facility was located in Iran.[14] Iran would similarly likely only accept US assistance with its nuclear program if the United States allows Iran to continue enriching uranium on Iranian soil.
The senior White House official said that US demands require Iran to remove remaining nuclear material and enrichment infrastructure, accept strict limits on its missile program, and halt support for the Axis of Resistance.[15] Iran would also need to resume cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and agree to on-demand inspections of its nuclear facilities.[16] Senior Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected such demands.[17]
The Israel-Iran War has exacerbated pre-existing fissures between reformists and hardliners in the Iranian regime over how to engage the West. A group of 180 reformist-leaning academics, economists, and officials from former President Hassan Rouhani’s administration issued a statement on July 9 that framed the war as a “costly reminder” of governance failures.[18] The statement urged President Masoud Pezeshkian to pursue negotiations with the United States and Europe to prevent renewed conflict and “preserve Iran’s territorial integrity.”[19] The signatories warned that hardliners are fueling enmity and that conflict would have “disastrous consequences” on Iran.[20] Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-affiliated Fars News rejected the statement on July 11 as “politically naive” and a “repetition of failed strategies.”[21] Fars News claimed that the statement presented a “false dichotomy of negotiation or war.”[22] Fars News cited the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as evidence that the United States is “untrustworthy” and that diplomacy leads to one-sided concessions.[23]
Iranian parliamentarians proposed a bill on July 11 to allocate more funding to Iranian security forces after the Israel-Iran War.[29] An Iranian parliamentarian stated on July 11 that 116 lawmakers signed a bill that would require the government to pay the entire defense budget for the current Persian calendar year (March 2025 to March 2026) in addition to unpaid previous defense allocations and oil revenues.[30] The bill would also require the Iranian Central Bank to liquidate up to 2 billion Euros from “unfrozen foreign assets” or the National Development Fund for “emergency defense projects.”[31] Israeli strikes during the 12-day war destroyed key Iranian military and defense industrial sites, including bases, production facilities, and storage facilities. CTP-ISW has not observed indications that Iranian security forces have developed or presented a coherent plan for rebuilding or modernizing their forces in the wake of the war. It is therefore unclear how Iran plans to allocate these funds.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-july-11-2025