TEHRAN/VIENNA, Dec 20: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that the agency must determine on its own whether Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan are inaccessible following the US strikes in June 22, a position Tehran has rejected, calling it “unreasonable”.
Denouncing the nuclear watchdog’s comments, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, was quoted as saying to Iranian media, “The agency’s insistence that access and inspections take place strictly under a safeguards agreement written for non-war conditions is unreasonable.”
Countering Tehran’s position, the agency’s chief Rafael Grossi said Iran could not unilaterally decide whether the sites were unsafe to examine and deny its inspectors access, stating that this claim must be substantiated by the IAEA itself.
Speaking to Russian state media, Grossi said, “If they say it is unsafe and inspectors cannot go there, then inspectors must be allowed to confirm that this is indeed the case.”
The ongoing stand-off between Iran and the IAEA, comes post the 12-day Iran-Israel war that began on June 13 with Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, senior military figures and nuclear scientists, followed by a one-off US attack on June 22. Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon and responded with missile strikes, including an attack on a US base in Qatar.
Grossi said Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan remain central to uranium processing, conversion and enrichment, but stressed that Iran’s nuclear programme is broader than those sites alone.
“Iran has much more than these three facilities,” he said, pointing to research activities, other locations and the operating nuclear power plant at Bushehr, as well as plans for additional reactors, including projects with Russia.
Kamalvandi argued that the safeguards framework cannot be applied in the same way after military attacks. “This framework was written for ordinary circumstances,” he said. “When nuclear facilities and materials are damaged in a military attack, the conditions are different.”
He said that allowing inspectors into damaged sites while security threats persist could pose risks, and added that Tehran was considering alternative ways to account for nuclear material without physical inspections.
The IAEA has long sought clarification from Iran over past nuclear activities and the whereabouts of undeclared nuclear material.
Grossi has repeatedly said those issues cannot be resolved without access to relevant locations.
“If inspectors cannot enter, we need to verify that ourselves,” he said, adding “That is the basis of safeguards.”
(UNI)
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