Russia says no evidence Iran working on nuclear weapons
March 3, 2026 04:59 pm
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow had still not seen any evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons.
Trump has said the war was needed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to thwart its long-range ballistic missile program.
Iran has denied it is seeking nuclear weapons and said the U.S. and Israeli assault was unprovoked, occurring as Tehran and Washington were in negotiations on a nuclear accord.
Trump withdrew from a prior international agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program during his first term in 2018, three years after it was signed.
Meanwhile, entrances to Iran’s underground and previously bombed uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz have been struck as part of the U.S.-Israeli military attacks on the country, the U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed on Tuesday.
The underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) is one of Iran’s three uranium-enrichment plants that are known to have been operating when Israel and the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
“Based on the latest available satellite imagery, IAEA can now confirm some recent damage to entrance buildings of Iran’s underground Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X.
“No radiological consequence expected and no additional impact detected at FEP itself, which was severely damaged in the June conflict,” it added.
The IAEA’s finding fits with that of U.S. think-tank the Institute for Science and International Security published on Monday after Iran said Natanz was hit on Sunday and the IAEA responded that any military strikes were not major.
--Agencies
