Iran and U.N. Watchdog Meet to Discuss Resuming Nuclear Inspections

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi attends the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Monday. PHOTO: LISA LEUTNER/REUTERS

Iran and U.N. Watchdog Meet to Discuss Resuming Nuclear Inspections

NY Times -Sept9th2025

By Erika Solomon and Sanam Mahoozi

Sept. 9, 2025, 11:47 a.m. ET

Iran’s foreign minister met with the leader of the United Nations nuclear watchdog group in Cairo on Tuesday, as the agency aims to reach an agreement on resuming international inspections of Iranian nuclear sites.

Iran suspended its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in the wake of Israel and Iran’s 12-day war in June, when Israel and the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, where they said scientists were working toward developing atomic weapons. But in recent weeks, Iran and the agency began to talk again, with an I.A.E.A. official visiting Tehran in late August.

The lack of international inspections has unnerved regional security experts, who have been warning that Iran might seek to secretly build atomic bombs. It is not clear how badly Iran’s nuclear program was damaged by the U.S. and Israeli attacks.

Allowing access to I.A.E.A. inspectors could help Iran avert or postpone economic sanctions announced by Germany, Britain and France, penalties that could deal a heavy blow to a country whose economy is already foundering.

Speaking to the I.A.E.A. board of governors on Monday, the agency’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said he hoped an agreement would soon be reached that would “facilitate the resumption of our indispensable work with Iran.”

“There is still time, not much, but always enough when there is good faith and a clear sense of responsibility,” he said. He then traveled to Cairo to meet with the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, on Tuesday.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, wearing a suit, stands with his hands clasped in front of him, amid several other suited men. — Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, traveled to Cairo for a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister on Tuesday.Credit…Ahmed Hasan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Late last month, Britain, Germany and France notified the United Nations that Iran was in breach of its obligations under the landmark 2015 deal that it signed with global powers, which restricts Iran’s uranium enrichment. The agreement, which is valid until Oct. 18, 2025, allows sanctions to be lifted, with the option to reimpose them via a “snapback” mechanism.

President Trump withdrew from the deal and reimposed U.S. sanctions in 2018, during his first term. That move, Tehran argues, meant Iran was no longer bound by the agreement, and eliminated the European signatories’ right to impose snapback provisions. But the Europeans contend that the deal has remained in effect.

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