The United Nations nuclear watchdog has urged Iran to take gradual steps to allow its inspectors back into the country’s key nuclear facilities, warning that it cannot verify Iran’s nuclear activities or account for its enriched uranium stockpile without access.
In a report circulated to member states on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the lack of information about Iran’s atomic sites and nuclear material is “a matter of proliferation concern” that “needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency”.
01. What the IAEA report says
The agency said it is “fully prepared to resume its safeguards activities in Iran at short notice”. Its Director General, Rafael Grossi, encouraged Tehran to consider “technical and gradual measures” that could create the conditions for inspectors to return.
The report raised particular concern about an underground uranium-enrichment plant near Isfahan in central Iran. Tehran declared the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant in 2025 but has never allowed IAEA inspectors to visit it, and the agency says it cannot verify whether the plant contains nuclear material.
02. Why inspectors have no access
The IAEA has had no access to key Iranian nuclear facilities since Israel, joined by the United States, launched a 12-day conflict in June 2025 that included strikes on nuclear sites. Nuclear facilities were hit again in the latest war, which erupted on February 28, 2026.
IAEA inspectors were able to visit Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant in September, but have had no access to other important facilities. Tehran has told the agency that it is not possible to resume inspections amid the current security situation.
In September, the IAEA board referred Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear non-compliance, the first such referral in 20 years. The latest report will be discussed at a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors next week.
Sources: Al Jazeera, The Hindu, Reuters, AFP.
