UN nuclear chief says Iran inspections will proceed

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said inspectors will visit Iranian nuclear sites under a preliminary US-Iran agreement, even as Tehran insisted access to damaged facilities and nuclear material depends on a final deal and sanctions relief.

“The inspections will indeed take place,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters in Japan on Wednesday. “We will be working on the modalities — dates, procedures, places — very soon.”

Grossi said the memorandum of understanding signed last week by the United States and Iran states “explicitly” that nuclear activities involving Iranian nuclear material and facilities will be supervised by the IAEA. “Obviously, to do that, we will have to inspect,” he said.

He acknowledged the public dispute over what Iran had agreed to. “There’s a war of words here. Some say ‘yes’, the others say ‘no’,” Grossi said. “I can understand political statements. They are part of the reality.” But, he added, the agreement says IAEA supervision will take place “in bold letters. This is going to happen.”

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi pushed back in a post on X, saying access to Iran’s attacked nuclear sites and nuclear materials would “solely be examined and resolved within the framework of a final agreement” with the United States. He said inspections depended on “the other party’s practical action in terminating all sanctions” and added: “Media noise cannot be used to impose facts on the ground.”

The preliminary 14-point memorandum commits Washington and Tehran to negotiating a final agreement within 60 days. According to the BBC, it says the sides agreed to resolve the future of Iran’s stockpiled enriched material through a mutually agreed mechanism, with “the minimum methodology” being on-site down-blending under IAEA supervision.

The agreement also says Iran would allow shipping through the Strait of Hormuz while the United States would lift a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Brent crude oil fell below $75 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since the US-Israeli war on Iran began, the BBC reported. The UN said some ships had already passed through the strait under a plan to evacuate thousands of sailors stranded by the war.

The inspection dispute followed talks in Switzerland. US Vice President JD Vance said Monday that Iran had “agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country.” The next day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said there had been no detailed discussions and no “clear schedule” for inspections at nuclear facilities bombed by the US and Israel. President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s statements and said Tehran had “fully and completely agreed” to inspections, while also telling reporters there was “no rush.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan before traveling to Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss the deal. In Kuwait City, Rubio said Washington would not accept any agreement that undermined the security of US allies in the region. “We’re going to be completely aligned with our partners in the Gulf,” he said. “If Iran wants to make a good and real deal, the United States is open to that. If they’re not, then of course the president has options.” Al Jazeera reported that Rubio said technical talks could resume in Switzerland on June 29 or 30.

The IAEA said its inspectors were allowed to visit Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant earlier this month but were still denied access to sensitive sites bombed during the war. The agency said it could not provide current information on the size, composition or whereabouts of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, or whether enrichment had stopped.

Before the war, the IAEA reported that Iran had 440 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60% purity, near weapons grade, the BBC reported. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it would never seek nuclear weapons.