VIENNA, June 8 (Bernama) — International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has called for renewed dialogue with Iran on Tehran’s nuclear programme, stressing that engagement remains crucial amid the prolonged heightened tensions in West Asia.
“We need this engagement. This engagement can take different forms,” he said in a press conference after the agency’s Board of Governors meeting on Monday.
He said while inspections may not be possible during active conflict, “there are many things that can be done.
“The important thing is this dialogue, which has been essentially broken, and which, of course, complicates things even further,” he said, despite acknowledging that he has sporadic contacts with Iranian officials.
He also reiterated that the agency has never concluded that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon.
“We have never said that they were doing that,” he said, adding that the IAEA would not be in a position to make such an assessment now, having been denied access to key facilities for almost a year.
Earlier, in his introductory remarks to the Board of Governors, Grossi said in February 2026, the Agency stopped conducting all in-field verification activities in Iran due to the military conflict.
He said despite the ongoing military conflict, it was possible to resume some in-field verification activity in Iran last week when the agency conducted a routine inspection at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
“It is now almost one year that the agency has had no access to any of the declared nuclear facilities affected by the military attacks of June 2025, therefore the agency has lost continuity of knowledge of the previously declared nuclear material at those facilities,” he said.
“This lack of information and access means that the agency has also been unable to verify the suspension of all enrichment, reprocessing, and heavy water-related activities as required by the relevant Security Council and Board resolutions,” he said.
— BERNAMA