ERBIL () - International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi extended a renewed offer of cooperation to Iran on Monday saying the agency is once again reaching out to Tehran to cooperate on clarifying issues related to its nuclear programme, while pledging to take Iran's security concerns into account when the agency resumes its activities inside the country.
"We once again extend a helping hand to Iran to cooperate with us to clarify issues related to its nuclear programme,"Grossi said in his statement. "I say to Iran that we will take its security concerns into account when resuming our activities there."
Grossi acknowledged the difficulty of the current environment, saying: "We are aware of the difficulty of the situation due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East region."
The IAEA chief's renewed outreach to Tehran comes as the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany have been pushing for a draft resolution at the IAEA Board of Governors that would refer Iran to the UN Security Council for nuclear non-compliance. Iran has blocked all IAEA inspector access to its nuclear sites since they were struck in the June 2025 Israeli and American strikes, and the agency has been unable to verify the status of Iran's near weapons-grade uranium stockpile since the bombing. Iran's Foreign Ministry has dismissed the US-European draft resolution as politically motivated, calling the IAEA director general's reports on which it is based a politicized instrument used to justify aggression against Iran.
Grossi's offer to take Iran's security concerns into account when resuming IAEA activities inside the country represents a notable concession in tone, acknowledging that the physical security risks facing IAEA inspectors operating in a country that has been subject to repeated military strikes are a legitimate variable in any discussion about resumed access. Tehran has cited the destruction of its nuclear sites in the June 2025 strikes and the continued threat of further military action as reasons why it cannot guarantee the safety of foreign inspectors or resume cooperation under current conditions.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei had previously suggested publicly that Tehran may need to reconsider its longstanding rejection of nuclear weapons, arguing that US attacks proved the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty offers no protection. The combination of that statement, Iran's blocking of inspector access, and the failure to clarify the status of uranium traces at undeclared sites has placed the nuclear file at the center of the diplomatic impasse that the postponement of Monday's Iran-Gulf meeting in Oman further deepened on Sunday.
