Iran rejects IAEA inspections of damaged nuclear sites after war with the United States

Iran has said it will not allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit nuclear facilities damaged in the war with the United States. The statement, made by the Iranian foreign ministry on Tuesday, directly contradicts comments from Washington a day earlier that suggested Tehran had accepted such inspections. The dispute adds a new layer of tension to the fragile post-war diplomatic process now under way.

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Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said there had been no meeting with the agency in Switzerland and no plan to permit inspections of damaged sites. He said there was no protocol for that kind of inspection, while adding that Iran would continue to meet its current obligations as a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and under its safeguards agreement with the agency. Baghaei also said negotiators were still trying to align other issues and clauses between the United States and Iran before any discussion of the nuclear file itself.

He said Iran's defensive capabilities and missile programme would not be open to negotiation with any party. The remarks came after President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran would allow major atomic weapons inspections, and Vice President J.D. Vance said Tehran had agreed to visits by agency inspectors to its nuclear facilities.

On the same day, the Iranian government said it had not agreed to anything on its nuclear programme during the first round of talks in Switzerland after the peace agreement ending the war between the two countries. The disagreement matters because the nuclear issue remains one of the most sensitive parts of the post-war relationship between Tehran and Washington. It also affects questions over the dilution of radioactive material held by Iran and the future of inspections at Iranian nuclear plants.

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Both sides have said they want to resolve the issue, along with other disputes such as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, within 60 days through multiple rounds of talks with mediators. The latest exchange shows how quickly the diplomatic track can be complicated by conflicting public statements. It also underlines the limits of what has been agreed so far, even after the first round of talks in Switzerland.

Iran's insistence that its missile and defensive capabilities are not negotiable suggests the talks may remain narrow and difficult. What remains unclear is whether the two sides have any shared understanding on inspections, and if so, what form it would take. It is also not clear when the next round of negotiations will be held or whether the agency will have any role in them.

For now, the dispute leaves the status of damaged nuclear sites and the wider nuclear programme unresolved.

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