IAEA says inspectors will return to Iran, timing still unclear

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors will return to Iran, Rafael Mariano Grossi said, but he left the timetable unresolved, calling the exact timing “not essential” even as access is central to verifying Iran’s nuclear stockpile.

Grossi said the visits would proceed under a 14-point U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding signed last week, but the “modalities” still had to be worked out. Inspectors have not been able to verify Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile since the June 2025 fighting began. The longer that gap lasts, the harder it becomes to confirm what was moved, what was damaged and what remains on site.

The agency said Iran had more than 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60% U-235 before the war, a level far above civilian fuel needs and close to weapons-grade. An IAEA calculation put the stockpile at 440.9 kilograms on the eve of the June 2025 attacks. An inspection weeks or months after an attack can document damage and check records, but it cannot recreate the conditions that existed before bombardment or fully rule out transfers during the gap.

Grossi told the U.N. Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors that attacks on Iranian nuclear sites had caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security, though no radiological release affecting the public had been reported. The Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant was targeted on June 13, 2025, destroying the above-ground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant. Grossi also said U.S. bombing probably caused “very significant” damage to underground areas of Fordow, Iran’s main site for enriching uranium to 60%.

Tehran has pushed back on the agency’s timeline. Esmail Baghaei, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said inspectors were not scheduled to examine sites bombed by the United States, and an Iranian diplomat later said access would come only after a final U.S.-Iran deal. The IAEA Board of Governors responded last week by demanding that Iran account for its uranium stocks and allow access to nuclear sites.