IAEA 'increasingly concerned' about Iran's Isfahan enrichment plant it cannot inspect, report says

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it is "increasingly concerned" about a uranium-enrichment plant at Isfahan. Iran declared the plant to the agency but has not allowed inspectors to visit it. The concern appears in a confidential report issued on Friday. The report was circulated to IAEA member states and seen by news agencies.

According to the report, the agency does not know the plant's exact location or whether it contains nuclear material. Iran declared the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant to the IAEA in 2025. The report calls the agency's lack of information about Iran's nuclear material and sites a proliferation concern. BBC News quoted the report as saying the problem "needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency".

Israel and the United States attacked Iran's nuclear facilities in June 2025. Since then, Iran has restricted inspectors' access to its nuclear sites. The IAEA has been unable to verify Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium.

According to BBC News, Iran announced its plans for the plant on 12 June 2025. This was shortly after an IAEA resolution said Iran had failed to meet its safeguards obligations. It was also one day before Israel began its attacks. A planned inspection was cancelled once the strikes began. BBC News also reported that the IAEA believes much of Iran's highly enriched uranium was stored at Isfahan. According to Al Jazeera, the report does not establish that enrichment is taking place at the plant.

What is disputed

The reports differ on the report's exact wording. BBC News quotes it as calling the situation "a matter of serious proliferation concern". Al Jazeera, citing The Associated Press, quotes "a matter of proliferation concern". The reports also differ on the plant's location. BBC News refers to a plant in the city of Isfahan. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, describes an underground plant near Isfahan.

What each side says

The IAEA urges Iran to restore access. According to Al Jazeera, the agency says it is "fully prepared to resume its safeguards activities in Iran at short notice". According to AFP, as cited by Al Jazeera, Director General Rafael Grossi urged Iran to consider limited technical measures to make inspection visits possible.

According to the report, as cited by Al Jazeera, Iran said inspections cannot resume in the current security situation. It pointed to "persistent, explicit, and public threats by the President of the United States of America … to commit further acts of armed aggression". Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said at a news conference in Tehran on Monday that Iran remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to Al Jazeera. He blamed US and Israeli attacks for limiting cooperation with the IAEA. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. The United States and Israel say they attacked to prevent Iran from developing them.

Analysis

The report highlights a widening verification gap. The IAEA cannot confirm where the Isfahan plant is, what it contains, or where Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is now. Several paths remain open. Limited technical arrangements, such as those Grossi reportedly proposed, could restore some access. Continued deadlock could increase diplomatic pressure on all sides. Iran links any resumption to its security concerns. The agency stresses urgency. How each side weighs these positions may shape what follows. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not show whether enrichment is occurring. The facts alone do not indicate which outcome is more likely.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.