IAEA director on Iran’s nuclear program after U.S. strikes

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Director General of nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about Iran's nuclear program.

Director Grossi says the intelligence out of Iran shows the U.S. strikes caused "severe damage," but not "total damage."

"Iran has the capacities there; industrial and technological capacities. So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again," Grossi said.

Brennan asked Grossi if he has any idea where the canisters of roughly 400 kilograms, or 900 pounds, of highly enriched uranium are, and if they were moved before the attack, and Grossi answered saying:

"We presume, and I think it's logical to presume that when they announce that they are going to be taking protective measures, this could be part of it. But, as I said, we don't know where this material could be, or if part of it could have been, you know, under the attack during those 12 days. So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be at some point a clarification. If we don't get that clarification, this will continue to be hanging, you know, over our heads as a potential problem. So this is why I say it's so important, first of all, for Iran to allow our inspectors to continue their indispensable work as soon as possible."

Brennan followed up by asking Grossi if it's still a risk Iran could be rushing towards a bomb if they "don't know where the highly enriched uranium is and cannot account for all the centrifuges," and Grossi said:

"We don't want to be alarmists here, and I don't want to be part of, you know, a messaging that would be spreading, as I say, alarm. But we need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where is it and what happened. Iran had a very vast ambitious program, and part of it may still be there, and if not, there is also the self-evident truth that the knowledge is there. The industrial capacity is there. Iran is a very sophisticated country in terms of nuclear technology, as is obvious. So you cannot disinvent this. You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have. It's a huge country, isn't it? So I think this should be the incentive that we all must have to understand that military operations or not, you are not going to solve this in a definitive way militarily. You are going to have an agreement. You are going to have an inspection system that will give everybody, everybody in the region and elsewhere, the assurances that we can definitely turn the page."

During the interview, Brennan and Grossi talked about President Donald Trump "calling for diplomatic talks with Iran to settle all the issues around the nuclear program," prompting Brennan to ask Grossi if the IAEA will be involved in any agreement, to which Grossi said:

"At some point we will have to be, because if his efforts, which I support wholeheartedly, succeed, this will come to a point where there is some agreement, some understanding on things that Iran will continue doing, and some things where there could be an agreement on certain restrictions. And of course, who is going to verify that is the IAEA so this is why we're in constant contact. Now they need to reconnect. And it's not going to be easy, one can imagine, after the traumatic events that took place. Even for us, you may have seen that I wrote to Foreign Minister Araghchi a few days ago, immediately, I would say, after the cease-fire was considered to be holding, and I said to him that we should perhaps sit down and analyze in a gradual way the reconnection, the modalities for the inspectors to go- to go back. So there is a level where the IAEA is not involved, and this is the direct conversation. What is the deal? And then, of course, we will be connecting to make sure that that deal stands and it's verifiable."

To watch Brennan's full interview with Grossi, click here.