The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that inspectors will return to Iran’s uranium enrichment sites, contradicting Tehran's claim that bombed facilities are off-limits under the new US-Iran interim deal.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi made the comments during a visit to Japan, where he spoke at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. His remarks were the clearest signal yet that the nuclear watchdog expects access to Iran’s most sensitive sites.
The issue has quickly become the first major test of the memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The agreement ended open hostilities and opened a 60-day window to resolve the biggest unresolved questions—above all, the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
“I can understand political statements, they are part of the reality,” Grossi said. But he emphasized that both presidents signed a memorandum that explicitly gives the IAEA a role, stating “in all letters” that nuclear activities involving nuclear-material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA.
Grossi’s statement aims at cutting through the diplomatic fog surrounding the deal. The Trump administration has said Iran agreed to allow inspections, while Tehran has publicly denied that inspectors are scheduled to examine nuclear sites struck by the United States and Israel.
The dispute shows why paper agreements with hostile regimes are never enough. If Iran gets sanctions relief, access to money and international legitimacy, verification cannot be left to political spin.
Grossi has made that point before, warning that without IAEA inspectors, negotiators would not have an agreement—they would have only “an illusion of an agreement.”
The IAEA has been blocked from visiting enrichment sites since Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June 2025. Those are the facilities where Iran is believed to hold enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build several nuclear weapons if it chose to race toward a bomb.
The agency has been allowed into some unaffected facilities, including the Bushehr nuclear power plant. But without access to enrichment sites, the agency says it cannot verify the status of Iran’s uranium stockpile or inspect the centrifuge cascades used to enrich it.
Grossi told NHK that the agency’s top priority is confirming where Iran’s highly enriched uranium is located. He said the IAEA has an idea of where the material could be, but emphasized that Iran must tell inspectors where it is.
The agency has also said satellite imagery showed regular vehicle movement around the entrance to an underground tunnel complex at Isfahan. Uranium enriched to 20 percent and 60 percent is believed to have been stored there.
Grossi said damaged storage facilities may require technical work before inspectors can reach nuclear material. The agency is expected to speak with Iranian officials soon to determine dates, access rules and other inspection details.
The IAEA is an independent body and will carry out inspections on its own. If Iran wants to invite the United States or other observers, Grossi said, that is a separate matter, but the agency does not need outside supervision.
The deal also calls for Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile to be downblended. That process is central because 60 percent uranium is above ordinary civilian levels and close enough to weapons-grade material to alarm security experts.
The stakes could not be higher, and a real settlement requires the highest of standards: open the sites, locate the uranium, inspect the centrifuges and verify compliance.
