IAEA Urges Iran to Restore Nuclear Inspections and Warns Over Unvisited Isfahan Plant

The update

The International Atomic Energy Agency urged Iran in a report circulated to member states on Friday to restore inspector access to its nuclear facilities, saying verification must resume without further delay. Director General Rafael Grossi encouraged Tehran to consider incremental technical steps that would let inspectors return. The agency said the lack of information about Iran’s sites and material is a serious proliferation concern needing rectification with the utmost urgency, and that it cannot conclude declared material has not been diverted.

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Why it matters

Inspectors have had little or no access to key facilities since United States and Israeli attacks in June 2025, so the agency cannot verify Iran’s stockpile, put at about 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent before those strikes. Its sharpest concern is the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant, declared in 2025 but never inspected: the agency does not know its exact location, status, or whether it contains nuclear material.

What to watch

Whether Iran accepts any gradual return of inspectors, starting with Isfahan, and how member states respond after the agency’s board referred Iran to the UN Security Council in September. Iran told the agency inspections cannot resume amid persistent United States threats of further attacks, says it remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and blames the 2025 attacks for limiting cooperation.

Sources

• aljazeera.com — confirms the report, Iran’s security objection and the uninspected Isfahan plant
• thehindu.com — confirms the incremental-steps call, proliferation concern, stockpile and September referral

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