Kamalvandi: IAEA has inspected unbombed sites in Iran
Tehran - BORNA - Speaking to reporters on Monday, Behrrouz Kamalvandi said that "We do not currently have any inspections, but the inspections that have been conducted recently have been carried out with the permission of the Supreme National Security Council\(SNSC) based on the piece of legislation on the suspension of cooperation with the Agency, and all of them are related to industrial centers that have not been attacked."
"Measures must definitely be considered regarding the centers that have been attacked. The important point is that the Safeguards Agreement does not include anything for wartime conditions, and an agreement must be reached in that regard," he added.
"When such conditions exist, security becomes the most important issue. We must negotiate this issue from a security perspective," the nuclear spokesman said.
"They are pressuring us to grant access sooner, but the security of the country and nuclear facilities requires that the work be calculated and a decision be made based on the legislation and ensuring that there will be no danger to the facilities," he added.
Tensions between Iran and the IAEA escalated sharply after "Israel" launched airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 13, 2025, followed by US strikes on June 22. Iranian officials accused the IAEA of failing to condemn these attacks and of enabling them by sharing sensitive facility data with aggressor states.
In response, Iran’s Parliament backed emergency legislation to suspend cooperation with the IAEA. By July, President Masoud Pezeshkian had issued an official decree ending Iran’s active collaboration, and all IAEA inspectors were ordered to leave the country.
A temporary diplomatic breakthrough came in September, when Iran and the IAEA signed the Cairo Agreement, mediated by Egypt, to restore limited inspections under new conditions. The deal included a critical clause that limited inspections to those approved by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
On November 19–20, 2025, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution that reignited hostilities. The resolution demanded immediate access to bombed sites and clarity on enriched uranium. It passed with 19 votes in favor, 3 against (Russia, China, and Niger), and 12 abstentions.
Tehran condemned the move as "politically motivated" and accused the IAEA of failing to acknowledge Iran’s continuous cooperation or to condemn the criminal aggression by the US and "Israel."
As a result, Iran formally terminated the Cairo Agreement and informed IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi that it was "no longer in force".
Despite these tensions, Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami, reaffirmed that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful and continues under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) framework, albeit under a more restricted and nationally controlled inspection policy.
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