Iran has yet to allow UN inspectors to visit nuclear sites hit by Israeli and US airstrikes in June, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a confidential report on Wednesday, saying verification of Tehran’s enriched uranium “long overdue.”
“The Agency’s lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran for five months means that its verification is long overdue,” the IAEA said in a report to member states seen by Reuters.
"It is critical that the Agency is able to verify the inventories of previously declared nuclear material in Iran as soon as possible in order to allay its concerns ... regarding the possible diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful use," the agency quoted the IAEA report as saying.
The Vienna-based nuclear watchdog has not been able to confirm the amount of enriched uranium in Iran’s possession since June, when Israeli and US strikes hit its main enrichment sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow during the 12-day conflict.
Before the attacks, inspectors had verified about 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity—enough, if further refined, for roughly 10 nuclear weapons under IAEA criteria.
IAEA says inspections hinge on Iran’s overdue report
Under its obligations as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran must submit a detailed report on the status of the bombed facilities “without delay,” but has yet to do so, the IAEA said. Only after such a report is received can inspectors return to the damaged sites.
The agency said it has so far only accessed some of the 13 nuclear facilities that were “unaffected” by the strikes, and none of the seven that were hit. It warned that the delay means it has lost “continuity of knowledge” of Iran’s uranium stocks, making it harder to re-establish a complete picture of the country’s nuclear activities.
The IAEA also reminded member states that its own guidelines require it to verify a country’s stock of highly enriched uranium every month.
Despite repeated requests since June, Iran has not allowed full inspections to resume. A plan announced in Cairo in September to restore cooperation has stalled, and Tehran now says the agreement is void.
IAEA chief urges return to diplomacy
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that Iran still retains the technical capability and sufficient material “to manufacture a few nuclear weapons,” despite what he called “severe damage” to its program. He said diplomacy remained the only path toward a durable solution.
The IAEA’s Board of Governors found Iran in non-compliance with its nuclear obligations in June after the agency said Tehran failed to explain the presence of undeclared nuclear material at several locations.
Since then, Iranian officials have accused Grossi of bias, with some state media describing him as an Israeli asset. The conservative newspaper Kayhan, overseen by the Supreme Leader’s office, even called for his execution after the June report.
“The most important objective is starting on building the relationship between Syria and the United States, because in the past 100 years, it wasn’t a very good relationship,” he said in an interview published on Tuesday.
Al-Sharaa said his country is in talks with Israel with support from President Donald Trump and other international partners.
“Israel has always said it has concerns about Syria because it is afraid of the threats that the Iranian militias and Hezbollah represent,” he said. “We are the ones who expelled those forces out of Syria.”
He said Syria’s negotiations with Israel have made progress. “We are engaged in direct negotiations with Israel, and we have gone a good distance on the way to reach an agreement,” al-Sharaa said. “But to reach a final agreement, Israel should withdraw to their pre-Dec. 8 borders.”
“The United States is with us in these negotiations,” he said. “Today, we found that Mr. Trump supports our perspective as well, and he will push as quickly as possible in order to reach a solution for this.”
On the idea of creating a demilitarized zone south of Damascus, al-Sharaa said, “To talk about an entire region demilitarized, it will be difficult, because if there is any kind of chaos, who will protect it? And at the end of the day, this is Syrian territory, and Syria should have the freedom of dealing with their own territory.”
Al-Sharaa seeks pragmatic ties with Russia
Turning to Russia, al-Sharaa said Syria fought Moscow’s forces for a decade but now seeks a working relationship with it as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. “We need Russia because it’s a permanent member of the Security Council,” he said. “We need their vote to be on our side in some issues, and we have strategic interests with them.”
He added that the issue of former president Bashar al-Assad, who is in Russia, remains unresolved. “The issue of Bashar al-Assad is troublesome for Russia, and our relationship with them — we’re still in the beginning,” he said. “We will preserve our rights as Syrians to call for bringing Assad to justice.”
His remarks came as the United States suspended most sanctions on Syria for 180 days while keeping curbs on business tied to Iran and Russia, the Treasury said on Monday. The decision extends partial relief under the Caesar Act but maintains restrictions on transactions involving the two governments or their goods, technology or financing.
The step followed al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington, the first by a Syrian head of state, where he met Trump for talks on rebuilding ties. Washington removed al-Sharaa from its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists before the visit, according to US officials.