Overview
- IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Wednesday that the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran explicitly requires IAEA supervision and that on-site inspections “are going to happen.”
- Iran’s officials have publicly rejected immediate access to enrichment facilities hit in 2025 and say inspections of damaged sites will be decided only in a final agreement and with SNSC approval.
- U.S. leaders including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have said Iran agreed to restore inspector access, creating a public dispute between Washington and Tehran over what the MoU already commits to.
- Key technical details — dates, procedures and which sites inspectors may enter — remain under negotiation, and those modalities will determine whether the IAEA can credibly verify the downblending called for in the MoU.
- The inspections matter because strikes in June 2025 disrupted oversight of more than hundreds of kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60 percent and verification will shape sanctions relief, frozen assets, and whether the 60-day negotiation window leads to a lasting deal.