IAEA chief Grossi tells UN Security Council Iran must allow checks on its 440 kg enriched uranium

Mixed · 2IAEA director general Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on Tuesday 27 October 2026 that Iran must provide the information and access needed to verify its previously declared nuclear material, including 440 kg (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium. 1 2 Right · 1Grossi said the IAEA "has not been able to verify that there has been no diversion of nuclear material" required to be safeguarded under Iran's Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, adding: "This can, and must, be rectified." 2 Mixed · 2He said the outstanding safeguards issues have been unresolved for more than five years, and that inspectors, withdrawn from Iran for their safety by the end of June 2025 after US and Israeli military attacks began, have been available to return "for many months now". 1 2

Mixed · 2The one exception is the Bushehr nuclear power plant, where inspectors are currently carrying out verification, and Iran's atomic energy organisation has cooperated on delivering safeguards equipment ahead of a spent-fuel transfer to a new dry-storage facility expected early next year. 1 2 Right · 1Arab News reported that Grossi said remote monitoring had found no signs of activity to repair or rebuild nuclear facilities hit by strikes in 2025 or this year, but that "nothing replaces access to the facilities to verify the actual situation". 2 Right · 1He also said Iran declared the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant just before the June 2025 strikes and agreed to inspector access, but the attacks prevented the visit and Iran has rejected repeated requests since; the sites hit include Fordow, Natanz, parts of Esfahan and the Khondab reactor. 2

Right · 1Grossi credited Oman, Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt with mediation efforts and pointed to the "Cairo Agreement" he signed with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on 9 September 2025, saying revisiting it could help resolve the status of the struck facilities. 2 Mixed · 2He said technical groundwork with US teams for a deal returning inspectors was in place, urged "gradual, technical, incremental steps", and said "Legal obligations in this regard cannot be unilaterally suspended under any circumstances." 2 1 Mixed · 2The briefing was Grossi's first to the Council since the IAEA board of governors reported Iran to it by a 23-3 vote with eight abstentions on 9 September, a decision Tehran rejected as political and unlawful; Anadolu reported the session's agenda was adopted 11-2 (Russia and China against) with Pakistan and Somalia abstaining. 2 1