Iran nuclear access is proliferation concern, IAEA says

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Tuesday that its lack of access to key nuclear sites in Iran “needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency”.

“The agency's lack of information about this nuclear material and access to facilities to verify it is a matter of proliferation concern,” the UN nuclear watchdog said in the report.

The IAEA has not had access to some key nuclear facilities in Iran since Israel, joined by the United States, launched a 12-day conflict in June 2025 that included strikes on nuclear sites. Nuclear facilities have also been hit in the latest war, which erupted on February 28.

The report, due to be discussed at an IAEA board of governors meeting next week, said the agency was concerned about the lack of access to the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant.

Before US strikes in June 2025, the IAEA calculated that Iran had about 440 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent. That level is close to the 90 percent needed to make a bomb and well above the 3.67 percent limit set by a now-defunct 2015 agreement with Iran. The fate of the stockpile has remained uncertain since June 2025.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said in June that the “widespread impression” was that the stockpile remained where it was before June 2025, near the Isfahan plant.

Grossi said the long-running problems should be resolved through “a long-lasting, verifiable diplomatic agreement”, according to the report.

Israel and the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon. Tehran has repeatedly denied any military nuclear ambitions and says it has a right to civilian nuclear technology.