IAEA demands access to Iranian nuclear sites ‘without delay’

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is demanding immediate access to more than a dozen nuclear sites in Iran, according to a report obtained by dpa on Thursday.

Tehran only granted the IAEA’s inspectors access to a single nuclear facility in recent months, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi notes in the report, which has not been published.

It was “critical” for the UN’s nuclear watchdog “to conduct verification activities in Iran without delay,” Grossi said, despite acknowledging that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites “have created an unprecedented situation.”

Tehran has largely suspended its cooperation with IAEA inspectors since the US and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28.

Just days before the report and ahead of a meeting of the IAEA board of governors next Monday, Iran allowed an inspection of its nuclear power plant in Bushehr this week.

In total, the country has 22 nuclear facilities, the majority of which have been targeted during the war.

Israel and the US previously launched heavy attacks on three key Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. Before those strikes, Iran possessed around 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to a purity of 60%, according to the IAEA.

This would be enough to build several nuclear weapons if the material were further processed, according to experts.

Tehran has consistently denied seeking an atomic bomb.

The whereabouts and condition of these stocks are currently unclear.

Grossi said, “The [IAEA]’s loss of continuity of knowledge over all previously declared nuclear material at affected facilities in Iran needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency.”

Negotiations between the US and Iran on a framework agreement to end the current conflict have stalled for months.

Key sticking points include control over the Strait of Hormuz as well as the Iranian nuclear programme.