VIENNA: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, announced on Thursday that Isfahan, home to one of Iran's largest nuclear facilities, would be the site of a new uranium enrichment plant.

This development comes in light of Iran's recent announcement of building a new enrichment facility as retaliation against diplomatic actions taken against it.

The announcement was made by Iran just a day before Israel launched military strikes on several Iranian targets, including nuclear facilities last Friday.

Despite the lack of specific details provided about the location and operational status of the plant, Grossi highlighted that Isfahan is known for being one of the 'hugest' nuclear complexes in Iran.

This new enrichment facility, had it gone online, would have been Iran's fourth such facility in operation.

However, the ongoing conflict and Israel's military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities destroyed one of these plants and temporarily disabled another by targeting its power supply, according to reports from the IAEA.

Grossi noted that while there was an official announcement about the new enrichment facility in Isfahan just before the onset of Israel's military operation, inspections planned for this site have been postponed due to the ongoing conflict.

The IAEA has reported that Israeli strikes on Friday caused damage to four buildings at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility, which is responsible for transforming 'yellowcake' uranium into the necessary feedstock for centrifuges.

The IAEA has also mentioned that the underground spaces within Isfahan do not appear to have been affected by the strikes and are said to house a significant portion of Iran's most highly enriched uranium stock.

However, no inspections have been conducted since the military strikes took place.