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Iran's foreign minister: Entry of IAEA inspectors does not signal full cooperation

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 27 August 2025 2:20 PM

Iran's foreign minister has confirmed the arrival of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following a months-long hiatus.

Abbas Araghchi, however, said their presence does not mean the resumption of full cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Wednesday, the foreign minister said the entry was authorized by Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and limited to overseeing the fuel replacement process at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

He said under a recent parliamentary law, all cooperation with the IAEA must be approved by the SNSC.

"No text has yet received final approval," he added, referring to ongoing discussions about a new cooperation modality following the acts of aggression by the Israeli regime and the United States in June.

Iran has barred any new inspections since the attacks, citing safety concerns at damaged nuclear sites and criticizing the IAEA's failure to condemn the strikes.

Earlier, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said the inspectors' presence was tied to routine operations at the Bushehr facility and the need to maintain electricity supply to the national grid.

On August 26, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi announced that inspectors were "back in Iran."

In an interview with Fox News, Grossi said, "When it comes to Iran, as you know, there are many facilities. Some were attacked, some were not."

"So we are discussing what kind of ... practical modalities can be implemented to facilitate the restart of our work there."

The developments come amid renewed diplomatic tensions, as Iran held talks in Geneva with Britain, France, and Germany over their threat to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism, a provision of the 2015 nuclear deal that would restore UN sanctions lifted under the accord.

European signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have said they will wait until August 31 to decide whether to activate the mechanism.

Iran has reduced its cooperation with the IAEA in recent years in response to the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal and the failure of Europeans to make up for the withdrawal.