IAEA chief Grossi urges swift return of inspectors to Iran: “the bases for a diplomatic agreement exist”

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, told the UN General Assembly on 23 October that the technical groundwork for a deal with Iran has been done and that “the bases on which a diplomatic agreement could be concluded exist”, according to UN News. He called for a swift return of IAEA inspectors to Iran, warning of growing fragility in the global non-proliferation regime.

Grossi presented the agency’s annual report to the Assembly, which then adopted a resolution reaffirming its support for the IAEA, the UN meetings coverage reports. His message on Iran was that inspectors cannot go back by technical means alone: their return, he said, “requires a return to the negotiating table”, and he urged the parties to “redouble efforts”.

Access restricted since June 2025

UN News notes that Iran has sharply restricted IAEA access since the June 2025 strikes on its nuclear sites during the 12-day war with Israel. The agency estimated in March that just over 200 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent remained at Isfahan, with more at Natanz. Without inspectors on the ground, the IAEA cannot independently verify where that material is.

In September the IAEA board of governors referred Iran’s non-compliance to the UN Security Council, a step Tehran contests. The diplomatic track Grossi describes runs alongside a much harsher confrontation: Trump on Iran: “We may do another little Epic Fury”; Tehran threatens undersea cables in the Gulf sets out the latest threats from Washington and Tehran.

Dialogue as the model

Grossi argued that the non-proliferation regime “depends on dialogue”, and pointed to Syria and Ukraine as places where engagement has produced results. In Ukraine, he said, the IAEA has brokered eight localised ceasefires to repair power lines at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and has carried out 287 missions since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The most recent of those pauses is covered in IAEA brokers eighth local ceasefire at Zaporizhzhia plant to repair backup transformer, as Grossi warns diesel is running low.

What happens next

No date has been announced for new talks or for inspectors to return. Grossi’s appeal makes the sequence plain: negotiations first, inspections after. No Iranian response to his remarks had been reported at the time of writing.