TANZANIA – The chief of the United Nations’ nuclear oversight body stated on Wednesday that Iran is not currently engaging in the enrichment of uranium. However, the agency has observed renewed activity at various nuclear sites within the country, according to an interview with The Associated Press.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, who serves as the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), noted that despite the lack of direct access to Iranian nuclear facilities, satellite imagery has not revealed any signs of Iran increasing its uranium enrichment beyond previously known levels. This assessment comes in the wake of the 12-day conflict with Israel last June.

“Nevertheless, Iran still retains uranium enriched up to 60%, which remains a crucial issue,” Grossi explained during an interview at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “We must re-establish our presence there to verify that this material is accounted for and not being diverted to other purposes. This is of utmost importance.”

Although actual enrichment activities have not been observed, Grossi did highlight that the IAEA has detected movement in the vicinity of the sites where Iran’s enriched uranium is stored. Due to restricted access, the agency has been dependent on satellite images, which offer only a limited view, he elaborated.

Grossi cautioned that the current stockpile could potentially enable Iran to produce up to 10 nuclear weapons if it opted to pursue a military application for its nuclear program. While Iran has consistently claimed that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful, the IAEA and Western countries maintain that Tehran had a structured atomic weapons program up until 2003.

Iran and the IAEA signed an agreement last month in Cairo to pave the way for resuming cooperation, including on ways of relaunching inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, that has yet to be implemented. The agreement came after Iranian officials suspended all cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog following the war with Israel in which the U.S. struck several Iranian nuclear sites.

Since that agreement, a series of U.N. sanctions have been reimposed on Iran over what European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal have deemed Iran’s lack of compliance with the IAEA and the breakdown of peace negotiations with the U.S. That has complicated the tenuous relationship between the IAEA and Iran, but Grossi said that inspectors are inside the country as of Wednesday.

The Iranian mission to the U.N. did not immediately return a request for comment.