UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief: Inspectors Set to Visit Iran’s Nuclear Sites Under U.S.-Iran Understanding

Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the United Nations nuclear oversight agency, said Wednesday that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency will visit Iran’s uranium enrichment sites. Grossi made clear that the inspections are an explicit part of the temporary memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and Iran.

The statement was delivered in Tokyo, where Grossi was staying while speaking with reporters. Grossi said that despite contradictory public statements, oversight of Iran’s nuclear facilities is part of the memorandum of understanding, and noted that it is written explicitly into the document. He added that visits to the sites are expected to take place in the coming week, though he did not give an exact date: "Whether it happens in two days, in a week, or in ten days — that matters, but it is not essential. It is going to happen."

As previously reported, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said yesterday that Iran does not intend to allow agency inspectors into the nuclear sites that were damaged. According to him, Iran also did not hold a meeting with Grossi while he was at the site of the talks in Switzerland. Baghaei stressed that "there is no procedure" that would allow agency inspectors to carry out inspections at facilities that were attacked.

U.S. President Donald Trump pushed back on the Iranian statements and denied that Tehran had refused to agree to IAEA oversight as part of the talks held in Switzerland. In a post he published on Truth Social, he wrote: "Despite all of their protests and false statements saying otherwise, along with the drums of war from the fake news that are doing everything possible to make the USA's Victory appear as small and insignificant as possible — Iran has fully and totally agreed to long-term Nuclear inspections at the highest level, and in perpetuity! This will ensure Nuclear integrity. If they had not agreed to this, there would be no more negotiations!".