The IAEA has been informed by Iran about a fire in a building at the site of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility early on Thursday. Iran also informed the IAEA that the fire was quickly extinguished and that there had been no nuclear material or other radioactive material in the building. Iran said the cause was not yet known, adding there were no injuries or radioactive contamination.
The Natanz site is under IAEA safeguards, including both safeguards verification and JCPOA verification and monitoring. The Agency can confirm that there were no IAEA safeguards inspectors present at the time, and that the location where the incident occurred does not contain nuclear materials.
The Agency has been in contact with relevant Iranian authorities to confirm there will be no impact on its safeguards verification activities, which are expected to continue as before. IAEA inspectors are present on a regular basis at Natanz.
