Iran's Nuclear & Oil Battleground: Damaged Refinery Reopens, Fordow Centrifuges 'No Longer Operational'

 June 27, 2025 – In a development with implications for global energy markets and nuclear non-proliferation efforts, a damaged unit at Iran's South Pars refinery's Phase 14 has reportedly resumed operations, just days after it was struck by Israel. This news comes as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) offered a stark assessment of damage at Iran's Fordow enrichment plant following recent U.S. strikes.

Iranian state-run agency Nour News reported on Thursday, June 27, 2025, that a damaged unit of the South Pars refinery's Phase 14, which was hit in Israel's first strike on Iran's oil and gas sector on June 14, has returned to operation. South Pars, the world's largest gas field, is critical to Iran's energy supply. The agency stated that gas production was not entirely halted and the unit was repaired in approximately 10 days.

This reported resumption of operations contrasts with earlier assessments of significant damage to Iran's energy infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed that centrifuges at Iran's heavily fortified Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant are "no longer operational" after the U.S. launched "bunker buster" bomb strikes on June 23, 2025.

In an interview on Thursday, Grossi stated, "Given the power of these devices and the technical characteristics of a centrifuge, we already know that these centrifuges are no longer operational because they are fairly precise machines: there are rotors, and the vibrations [from the bombs] have completely destroyed them." He also acknowledged that Iran's nuclear program suffered "enormous damage" as a result of the GBU-37 bombs used in the U.S. attack, though he steered clear of President Trump's claim that the sites were "obliterated," suggesting instead that capabilities had been "reduced."

Grossi's assessment provides the first independent, albeit preliminary, confirmation of the damage inflicted on the Fordow site, which is buried deep within a mountain. The IAEA had not been able to conduct inspections at Fordow since June 13, when Israel launched its initial strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

The varying reports on the South Pars refinery and the Fordow plant underscore the ongoing uncertainty and conflicting narratives surrounding the true extent of the damage to Iran's critical infrastructure and nuclear capabilities following the recent military exchanges.