The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has indicated that inspectors will be granted access to Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities, a key provision of the interim agreement between the United States and Iran aimed at ending the conflict between the two countries.
The remarks by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi on Wednesday marked the clearest indication yet that the agency expects to resume inspections of Iran’s most sensitive nuclear sites. The IAEA is widely regarded as central to verifying the status of Iran’s nuclear programme and stockpile.
Since Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran in 2025, Tehran has barred IAEA inspectors from visiting enrichment facilities believed to house enough highly enriched uranium to potentially produce up to 10 nuclear weapons if Iran chose to pursue them. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful, although it remains the only country without a declared weapons programme to enrich uranium to 60% purity.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, Grossi stressed that inspections were explicitly included in the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iranian presidents.
“I can understand political statements; they are part of the reality,” Grossi said. “But the fundamental thing I would like to remind you of is that there has been a Memorandum of Understanding signed by both presidents.”
He noted that the agreement clearly states that nuclear activities involving Iran’s nuclear materials and facilities will be supervised by the IAEA.
“To do that, we will have to inspect,” Grossi said. “Whether this happens in two days, one week or 10 days is important, but not essential. This is going to happen.”
The inspections are considered crucial to the agreement, which requires Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be diluted to lower enrichment levels.
There was no immediate response from Tehran to Grossi’s comments.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said no visits by UN inspectors had been scheduled to nuclear facilities previously targeted in US strikes, contradicting comments made earlier by US Vice President JD Vance.
The conflicting statements have raised questions about how quickly inspections can resume and whether Iran will fully comply with the agreement’s monitoring provisions.
Although the IAEA has been allowed to visit some nuclear facilities since the 2025 conflict, including the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, inspectors remain unable to access key enrichment sites.
Without entry to those facilities, the agency says it cannot verify the condition of Iran’s uranium stockpile or inspect the centrifuge cascades used to enrich uranium.
While both Iran and the IAEA maintain that uranium enrichment activities have ceased, non-proliferation experts remain concerned that Tehran could move nuclear material to undeclared locations beyond international oversight.
The interim agreement reached last week requires Iran to dilute its enriched uranium stockpile and provides sanctions relief while both sides work towards a broader settlement within a 60-day negotiating period.
However, the fragile ceasefire has already come under strain. Iran recently claimed it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to renewed fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
Although violence flared in Lebanon on Tuesday, the clashes did not escalate into a wider confrontation, allowing diplomatic efforts to continue.