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IAEA Iran inspections: Grossi calls for swift return of inspectors at UN General Assembly

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IAEA Iran inspections must resume swiftly, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi told the UN General Assembly on 23 October 2026, saying the basis for a diplomatic agreement exists, UN News reported.

IAEA Iran: The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran (file)
The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran (file) Photo: IAEA/Paolo Contri via UN News (editorial use with credit).

What Grossi told the UN on IAEA Iran access

Mr Grossi warned of growing fragility in the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, the system of treaties and inspections meant to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. He said the technical groundwork has been done and that “the bases on which a diplomatic agreement could be concluded exist”. He urged the parties to “redouble efforts”, adding that the return of inspectors “requires a return to the negotiating table”. The IAEA is the UN-linked body that checks whether nuclear material in member states is being used only for peaceful purposes, and its inspectors are its eyes on the ground at declared nuclear sites. UN News carried his remarks in its World News in Brief on 23 October. He made the remarks while presenting the agency’s work to the 193-member General Assembly, UN News said.

Key Facts

  • Speaker: IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi
  • Forum: UN General Assembly, 23 October 2026
  • Iran access restricted since: June 2025 strikes
  • Estimated stock: just over 200 kg of 60% enriched uranium at Isfahan (IAEA, March)
  • Ukraine: 8 local ceasefires and 287 missions at nuclear sites

“The bases on which a diplomatic agreement could be concluded exist.”

— Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director General

Why nuclear inspectors have been kept out

According to UN News, Iran has sharply restricted access for inspectors since the June 2025 strikes on its nuclear sites during a 12-day war with Israel. The IAEA estimated in March that just over 200 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 per cent remained at Isfahan, with more at Natanz. Uranium enriched to 60 per cent is far above the levels used in nuclear power reactors, which is why the stockpile is a central concern for the agency. In September, the IAEA board of governors referred Iran’s non-compliance to the Security Council, a step that Tehran contests, UN News said. Without inspectors on site, the agency cannot independently verify where that material is now. The agency’s board is made up of member states and can report cases of non-compliance to the Security Council, as it did in this case.

Non-proliferation depends on dialogue, says IAEA chief

“The global non-proliferation regime depends on dialogue,” Mr Grossi said, pointing to what he called successful efforts in Syria and in Ukraine. In Ukraine, he said, the IAEA has brokered eight localised ceasefires to allow repairs to power lines at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, and has deployed 287 missions since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. His message to the General Assembly was that the same kind of patient technical diplomacy could reopen access in Iran. UN News did not report any response from Iranian officials at the session, and no date has been set for inspectors to return. UN News said Mr Grossi presented these cases as examples of how dialogue can deliver results even during conflict.

Why It Matters: Without inspectors, no one can independently confirm what has happened to Iran's enriched uranium, which keeps tension high in the Gulf and affects oil markets India depends on.

Also on TrendDesh: West Bank closures after Hebron attack leave Guterres alarmed, UN says · Taiz City cut off for 20 days as UN warns of water and food crisis in Yemen

Source: UN News, World News in Brief, 23 Oct 2026 · IAEA

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