Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUS Defense Secretary denies intelligence on Iran moving uranium. Experts suggest movement before US strikes. Satellite imagery shows unusual activity.
By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium to shield it from U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear program over the weekend.
"I'm not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise," Hegseth said.
After the strikes, several experts also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of Fordow before the strike early Sunday morning and could be hiding it and other nuclear components in locations unknown to Israel, the U.S. and U.N. nuclear inspectors.
They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing "unusual activity" at Fordow on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance to the facility. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday most of the near weapons-grade 60% highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the U.S. attack.
Hegseth's comments denying those claims came at a news briefing where he accused the media of downplaying the success of U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear program following a leaked, preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting they may have only set back Iran by months.
Hegseth said the assessment was low confidence, and, citing comments from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, said it had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged by recent U.S. strikes, and that it would take years to rebuild.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Susan Heavey; editing by Susan Heavey and Chizu Nomiyama )
Hegseth stated he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting that Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to avoid U.S. strikes.
Experts indicated that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the Fordow facility before the U.S. strikes.
Satellite imagery showed unusual activity at Fordow, including a long line of vehicles outside the facility, suggesting potential movement of uranium.
Hegseth denied claims of uranium movement and emphasized that the assessment of Iran's nuclear program was low confidence, asserting it had been severely damaged by U.S. strikes.
Hegseth accused the media of downplaying the success of U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear program, following a leaked preliminary assessment.
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