Agency under Iran’s pressure under attack by the Board of Governors in an explosive situation
Agency under Iran’s pressure under attack by the Board of Governors in an explosive situation
According to Iran Gate News Agency, the seasonal meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency has begun as the oversight of the JCPOA has been removed from the agenda with the expiration of Resolution 2231, and simultaneously, tensions arising from recent military attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities have turned the resumption of inspections and the fate of Tehran’s cooperation with the agency into the most sensitive issue of this session.
The seasonal meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency began yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, and will continue until tomorrow, Friday. This meeting is being held in a different atmosphere from previous sessions because, according to the agency’s official announcement, with the expiration of Resolution 2231, the legal document and executive guarantor of the JCPOA, the subject of overseeing the implementation of Iran’s nuclear agreement is no longer on the agenda for this session.
The notice published on the agency’s website clarifies that this year’s meeting is being held without reviewing the section related to monitoring Iran’s nuclear commitments, a section that has always been one of the main topics of the Board of Governors’ meetings in recent years.
The meeting began with the reading of Rafael Grossi’s opening statement, after which the agency’s director-general answered reporters’ questions in a press conference.
The official agenda of this meeting covers a wide range of technical and legal issues, from reviewing new countries’ membership requests in the agency and the report of the Technical Assistance Committee to discussions related to nuclear safety and the regulations for transporting radioactive materials, the implementation of safeguards in North Korea, the status of the safeguards agreement in Syria, the progress of marine nuclear cooperation in Australia and Brazil, the transfer of nuclear materials within the framework of the AUKUS treaty, the sovereign equality of agency members, as well as developments related to nuclear safety and safeguards in Ukraine.
However, undoubtedly the most important and sensitive part of the meeting pertains to the NPT safeguards agreement with Iran.
While the agency has been responsible for the technical oversight of the JCPOA in recent years, the expiration of Resolution 2231 on October 18 led to the removal of the oversight file of this agreement from the council’s agenda.
However, three officials who wished to remain anonymous have recently told Bloomberg News that Western countries intend to draft new guidelines for agency inspectors at the upcoming meeting to assess Iran’s nuclear stockpiles with new mechanisms, indicating that Iran’s nuclear program remains a focal point for global powers.
What did Grossi say?
The seasonal meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency began with a statement from Rafael Grossi.
In the first part of this meeting, the agency’s director-general read out his latest report on the status of Iran’s nuclear program, a report that, due to the military attacks in June on Iran’s nuclear facilities and the suspension of some cooperation between Tehran and the agency, was followed with more sensitivity than in previous sessions.
In the opening report, Grossi announced that agency inspectors have returned to Iran after a few months’ hiatus and have conducted inspections at facilities that were not targeted in the July attacks.
He simultaneously emphasized that more interaction between Tehran and the agency is necessary for the full resumption of verification and technical monitoring activities.
On the first day of July this year, Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan were targeted by U.S. air force attacks, an attack that was directly participated in by Washington in a joint operation with Israel and, according to our country’s officials, was a clear violation of Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Although the buildings and equipment suffered heavy damages, according to official reports, the level of external radiation has not increased, and there is no danger of nuclear material release. Grossi, referring to these attacks, said more serious interaction with Iran is necessary to resume full inspections.
He explained that Tehran must provide the agency access to the damaged facilities and also to the stockpiles of low and high enriched uranium, as determining the exact status of these materials is an urgent matter.
The agency’s director-general reminded that the lack of access to these materials over the past five months has practically disrupted the usual verifications and created an unusual gap in recording and matching information.
In another part of the report, Grossi reminded that after the expiration of Resolution 2231, oversight of the implementation of Iran’s nuclear agreement is no longer on the Board of Governors’ agenda, and the agency is now solely focused on Iran’s commitments under the safeguards agreement and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog also referred to an agreement signed on September 9, 2025, in Cairo with Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister.
This agreement set a framework for conducting inspections, the timing of notifications, and monitoring methods after the June attacks, and according to Grossi, Iran has had significant cooperation in some areas since the signing of this memorandum of understanding. However, he emphasized that the agency has not yet received a report on the status of the damaged facilities and the nuclear materials present in them, and no verification activities have been carried out at these sites.
It is worth mentioning that the background to this situation goes back to Iran’s recent decision. After the military attacks by the U.S. and Israel, Tehran announced that Grossi had failed in his legal duties, including protecting safeguarded facilities, and his biased reports in recent months had paved the way for the recent attacks.
Additionally, the European troika’s action in activating the snapback mechanism led to the suspension of the Cairo agreement being put on the agenda, and part of the cooperation with the agency was suspended.
However, Iran has still announced that it is ready to consider new proposals for achieving a new cooperation framework, although the final decision on the level of interaction with the agency has been left to the Supreme National Security Council.
Araghchi also stated on October 11 that the suspension of the Cairo agreement’s implementation was done after the activation of the mechanism known as the snapback by Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, and this action has effectively reinstated international sanctions against Iran.
Despite these tensions, Grossi has announced that the agency is ready to cooperate with Iran and expects Tehran to take more practical steps to revive the monitoring process, a path whose future will depend on the political and security developments in the region and Tehran’s decisions in the coming weeks.
What happened at the press conference?
Rafael Grossi attended the press conference after the Board of Governors meeting and extensively discussed the draft resolution that the European troika, the UK, France, Germany, and the United States intend to present at the Board of Governors.
The main focus of this draft is to obligate Iran to accurately declare the current location of enriched uranium stockpiles after the U.S. and Israeli regime attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In response to how the agency intends to conduct this verification without increasing tensions with Iran, Grossi stated that we must see what is ultimately decided. The Cairo agreement text has many references to previous resolutions; we are reviewing it.
Basically, Iran is obligated to declare its facilities. We are fully informed of Iran’s declarations and know what has happened at the targeted facilities. Our next report will be based on this.
The agency’s director-general added that none of the European countries or the U.S. consulted with him or the agency before drafting the resolution and explained that the agency never requests the issuance of a resolution and the claim that the resolution was prepared at the agency’s request is incorrect. We merely follow the approved resolutions.
Grossi rejected Iran’s accusation of transferring agency information to Israel or the U.S. and deemed it completely false, stating that such claims have been made repeatedly but are not accurate. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, referring to the fact that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles still remain at the bombed facilities and this has been confirmed by the Iranian government, emphasized that we are quite confident we can provide an accurate and credible report.
We have not yet accessed these facilities, but inspections have begun, and we hope to enter soon. As long as Iran remains in the NPT, which is a wise and constructive decision, it is obligated to accept inspections.
Regarding the potential impact of the resolution’s approval on Iran and the agency’s cooperation, Grossi said my approach will not change. Even without a resolution, we perform our duties. The resolution may ask me for a specific report, but the safeguards commitments and NPT remain independent of the resolution. I hope the resolution’s approval does not reduce cooperation. There are still gaps that need to be filled. This senior diplomat referred to the difficulties of the past five months and said our only tool is dialogue with Iran.
The new Iranian parliament law must also be observed. Iran’s political and social conditions are complex, and there are many criticisms directed at me and the agency, but I am committed to my mission.
I hope the constructive path continues with or without a resolution. In the continuation of the press conference, Grossi also answered more sensitive questions. Regarding the report by the Institute for Science and International Security about the construction of a larger explosion chamber than the Amad project in Iran, he said this issue is not directly related to the agency’s inspection regulations. There have been activities in the Talqan area in the past, but a conventional explosion test does not require agency inspection.
In response to claims by some Iranian officials that the nuclear facilities have been completely destroyed and there is nothing left to monitor, he stated that this claim is not correct.
Part of Natanz has been severely damaged, but other parts remain intact. The same condition exists in Isfahan. Fordow was also targeted, but the consensus is that the nuclear materials remain in the same locations, and Iran has confirmed this.
Therefore, it cannot be said that there is nothing to observe. Even if a country claims its facilities have been destroyed, the agency must evaluate it itself. This is the usual process of the inspection system.
The agency’s director-general emphasized that an unprecedented attack on a member country’s nuclear facilities under the NPT is not a justification for stopping inspections, and the agency does not have a separate protocol for such conditions, but there is no need to draft a new protocol either.
He described the two main challenges of inspecting the damaged facilities as potential nuclear contamination and safety issues and claimed that contamination in these sites is limited, and the agency knows exactly what actions need to be taken.
Regarding the arrest of Amir Reza Jalilian, an Iranian agency employee who was arrested in Iran 18 months ago and sentenced to 10 years in prison, Grossi said this issue is completely separate from Iran’s nuclear program and solely relates to employee matters. It is being pursued through legal channels and is not related to verification activities.
The agency’s director-general once again strongly rejected the claim of transferring Iran’s confidential information to Israel or the U.S. and said there is no evidence for this claim. Repeating a claim does not turn it into reality.
These facilities and their functions are known to everyone, and there was no need for the agency’s confidential information. These claims are raised in conversations with Iran but are not taken seriously.
The key takeaway from Grossi’s message was that the agency is under political pressure, but its technical independence will be maintained. Iran’s safeguards commitments remain in place, and he is determined to pursue necessary inspections regardless of the Board of Governors’ voting outcome.