The Nuclear Blind Spot Growing Inside Iran As IAEA Inspectors Remain Shut Out

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged Iran to take incremental technical steps to allow international inspectors to return to its nuclear facilities, warning that the lack of access is deepening uncertainty over the country's nuclear programme. Tehran, however, has said discussions on restoring monitoring cannot proceed while its facilities remain vulnerable to further military attacks.

The appeal was made in a confidential report circulated to member states on Friday. The agency's Director General Rafael Grossi encouraged Iran to consider gradual measures to create conditions for inspectors to return, saying such steps could help restore normal safeguards implementation. The report has not been made publicly available, and its contents have been reported by AP.

The IAEA also expressed growing concern about the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant, which Iran declared to the agency in June 2025 but has not permitted inspectors to visit. The agency said it does not know the facility's exact location, its status for safeguards purposes or whether it contains nuclear material. It also sought information about Iran's enrichment facilities and its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Iran Cites Security Concerns

In its communication to the agency, Iran said monitoring discussions could not move forward while it faced public threats of further US military action, particularly against nuclear facilities. Tehran has argued that the security situation created by attacks on its nuclear infrastructure prevents inspections from resuming under normal arrangements.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that inspectors had recently visited the Bushehr nuclear power plant, but inspections at other facilities targeted in US and Israeli strikes were not possible under current conditions. Bushehr remains the only Iranian nuclear facility where the agency has recently been permitted to conduct inspections.

Tehran has also maintained that it has not abandoned its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The distinction is significant: Iran's treaty membership remains separate from the dispute over its implementation of safeguards and access for IAEA inspectors.

The agency's verification gap also leaves the status of Iran's enriched uranium uncertain. Its last estimate put the country's stockpile at 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60%, based on information available as of June, 2025. That figure is not a verified assessment of the current stockpile.

The latest report underscores the widening divide between the IAEA's demand for access and Tehran's insistence that security conditions must first be addressed. Without renewed inspections and information from Iran, the agency remains unable to establish the present status of key facilities and nuclear material.