US-Iran deal grants UN inspectors access to nuclear sites, IAEA chief says

Rafael Grossi asserts ceasefire understanding with US includes inspections, urges ‘strong verification’ system, notes initial talks with Iranians on visiting sites have been held

The interim US-Iran peace accord gives UN nuclear inspectors access to Iran, the atomic watchdog’s top official said on Friday, after Tehran indicated key sites would remain off-limits until a final deal with Washington was reached and sanctions lifted.

The US and Iran last week signed a memorandum of understanding paving the way for 60 days of talks to resolve thornier issues, including those related to Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on Wednesday there were no plans to grant access to inspectors.

But International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) boss Rafael Grossi said on Friday that inspections had to happen.

“There is an agreement and to comply with that agreement, the IAEA will have to have access and inspect,” he told a press conference in Japan. “We hope to be there soon.”

“Intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place,” he said.

UN inspectors have already held an initial exchange with Iranian officials to discuss technical issues, Grossi said. The first goal of any visit to Iran would be to check whether IAEA seals on previously inspected material remained intact and whether any material was missing, he said.

“Initial conversations have taken place… We expect this work to pick up soon,” he said.

Iran has not informed the watchdog how much of its enriched uranium survived US and Israeli attacks or where it is.

The IAEA estimates Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent before the conflict began. That is close to the 90% needed to make a bomb and well above the 3.67% limit set by a now-defunct 2015 agreement with Iran. The 60% enriched uranium has no peaceful use and if enriched further, it would be enough for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.

“I think the objective of this [recent US-Iran preliminary] agreement is to ensure that there is no development of nuclear weapons in Iran. The government of Iran has declared quite clearly that this is not their intention,” Grossi told reporters in Japan.

“But of course, intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place… as soon as is practicable,” the IAEA chief said.

Gharibabadi said on Wednesday that there were currently no plans to grant access to attacked nuclear facilities or nuclear material. He said such issues would only be addressed within the framework of a final agreement with Washington and after “practical steps” to lift US sanctions on Iran.

Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA after Israel and the United States launched a previous wave of attacks in June 2025, and its inspectors have not seen the material since.

Under the terms of the preliminary agreement between Tehran and Washington, this stockpile is meant to be “downblended” under IAEA supervision.

Grossi said the “widespread impression” was that the stockpile remains where it was before June 2025, at Iran’s Isfahan facility.

However, that facility was bombed and Iran said that it does not plan to allow the IAEA to inspect sites that were attacked.

Grossi also said on Friday that an alternative to diluting could be shipping the enriched uranium out of Iran.

“The memorandum of understanding, as you may have noted, includes the possibility of downblending as one alternative,” Grossi said.

“It could also be shipped out directly. It would perhaps be more complicated, but there are a few technical alternatives to deal with the material,” he said.

Iran, which vows to destroy Israel, has consistently denied seeking to acquire an atomic bomb, while remaining adamant about its right to operate a full-scale civilian nuclear program.

Before the 12-day war in 2025, Iran as a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty — unlike Israel, which is widely assumed to have atomic weapons — allowed the IAEA to inspect its nuclear sites under its safeguards deal with the Vienna-based body.

Iran agreed a landmark nuclear deal with six big powers in 2015, limiting its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but US President Donald Trump walked away from the agreement during his first term.