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IAEA Iran: Grossi tells Security Council the agency still cannot verify nuclear material

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Editor's note: This follows TrendDesh's earlier report on IAEA inspections in Iran and adds IAEA chief Rafael Grossi's 27 October briefing to the UN Security Council.

The IAEA Iran verification gap remains open: the UN nuclear watchdog still cannot confirm that none of Iran’s safeguarded nuclear material has been diverted, its Director General Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, according to UN News.

IAEA Iran: Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, briefs the Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation and Iran
Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, briefs the Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation and Iran Photo: UN Photo/Loey Felipe via UN News (editorial use with credit).

What Grossi told the Security Council on IAEA Iran access

Mr Grossi said the situation, more than a year after Israeli and US military strikes cut off inspectors’ access, “can and must be rectified”. Inspectors have not been able to return to sites hit by Israeli airstrikes in June 2025 and by joint Israeli and US attacks in early 2026, he said. The agency has seen no sign of work to repair or rebuild them, but satellite monitoring is no substitute for access on the ground. Normal inspections have not resumed, and Iran has not provided the information and access needed to verify previously declared nuclear material at its safeguarded facilities, both those that were struck and those that were not, he told the Council. Mr Grossi said the agency knows from its past work with Iran that constructive engagement is possible, and he urged a return to full cooperation.

Key Facts

  • Briefing: UN Security Council, 27 Oct 2026
  • Speaker: IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi
  • Declared HEU stock of concern: 440 kg
  • Access sought: Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant
  • Inspectors currently working only at Bushehr

“Only diplomacy, underpinned by IAEA verification, can prevent nuclear proliferation in the long term.”

— Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director General

Highly enriched uranium and the Isfahan plant

Of particular concern is Iran’s declared stock of 440 kg of highly enriched uranium, Mr Grossi said. The IAEA is also seeking access to the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant, which Iran declared just before the June 2025 strikes. He added that past work with Iran showed constructive engagement is possible. UN News did not report any response from Iran’s delegation, so none is given here.

Bushehr is the one exception

The one place inspectors are currently working is the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Mr Grossi said. Iran’s atomic energy agency has cooperated in delivering the safeguards equipment needed to verify spent fuel there before it is moved to dry storage, which is expected early next year. Bushehr is a civilian power reactor, and its spent fuel is subject to IAEA verification under safeguards. Mr Grossi said only diplomacy, backed by IAEA verification, can prevent nuclear proliferation in the long term. The briefing took place at a Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation and Iran, according to the UN Photo caption published with the UN News report. The IAEA has made similar appeals in earlier briefings to the UN General Assembly and its own Board of Governors, which TrendDesh has reported. No date was announced for inspectors to return to the sites that were struck, and the agency did not say what steps Iran had been asked to take next, beyond restoring access and providing information on its declared material.

Why It Matters: Without inspections, the world cannot confirm where Iran's enriched uranium is, which keeps Gulf tensions and oil-market risks high for importers such as India.

Also on TrendDesh: IAEA Iran inspections: Grossi calls for swift return of inspectors at UN General Assembly · Guterres in Egypt warns Iran-US sabre-rattling could push the region out of control

Source: UN News, 27 Oct 2026 · IAEA · UN Security Council

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