Iran closed down its nuclear facilities amid fears of an Israeli attack, the United Nations has revealed.
Inspectors were blocked from the sites on Sunday, Rafael Grossi, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency chief, said.
The shutdown came as Israel’s war cabinet was locked in talks over how to respond to Iran’s first direct attack on its territory.
Experts have warned Iran is on the “threshold” of becoming a nuclear power and could build a bomb in six months to a year. Uranium enrichment is accelerating as the regime faces calls to create a deterrent.
There is limited evidence the Islamic Republic wants to create a nuclear bomb, and Israel is not understood to be preparing an imminent attack on nuclear facilities.