For Tehran, the IAEA is not a neutral watchdog but a politicized instrument for the US and Israel. Accusations of espionage by Iranian authorities have long plagued the agency’s activities in Iran. On Saturday, Iran’s ultraconservative Kayhan newspaper attacked its chief, Rafael Grossi, calling him an "Israeli spy."
Many Iranian officials have blamed the IAEA for the war that began on June 13, when Israel began a military campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure. The first wave of attacks — followed by US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow — came after the IAEA’s board of governors received a report accusing Iran of covert nuclear activity up to the early 2000s and failing to explain traces of highly enriched uranium found at several sites.
On June 12, a day before Israel began its air campaign against Iran, the IAEA board voted to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. To Iranian officials, the timing was no coincidence. In their view, the agency’s decision not only lent diplomatic cover to the attacks but may have encouraged them.
In a post to X on June 19, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that the IAEA “obscured” the truth in its report “to craft a resolution with baseless allegation of ‘non-compliance’; the same resolution was then utilized, as a final pretext … to wage a war of aggression on Iran.”
In an interview with Al-Monitor's Andrew Parasiliti last week, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, explained the bill as a response to the IAEA’s failure “to fulfill its obligations toward Iran."
He added, “Should the IAEA act in a non-discriminatory manner — by condemning the attacks carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities, referring the matter to the Security Council and by securing the right of Iran under the NPT — then, under such circumstances, we would be prepared to reconsider the implementation of the law in question, in accordance with its provisions."
What does bill mean for Iran, IAEA?
The law puts formal nuclear oversight in Iran on unstable footing and introduces new conditions for even limited cooperation to resume. For the IAEA, which is tasked with verifying the peaceful nature of nuclear programs in countries that have signed the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty, the Iranian move amounts to a breakdown in one of its most critical inspection regimes.
Under the new law, IAEA inspectors will be barred from entering the country unless Iran’s Supreme National Security Council determines that the security of the nation’s nuclear facilities and personnel is fully guaranteed. Another precondition for cooperation is that Iran’s right to enrich uranium under the NPT be formally recognized.
In practical terms, the bill means the IAEA will lose visibility into Iran’s nuclear program. Reports from Iran’s Mehr news agency suggest Iran is poised to revoke access for surveillance cameras and could ban Grossi from entering the country altogether.
For the international community, the concern is not only that Iran may now move its nuclear program further underground, but also that the mechanisms for detecting such a move are rapidly eroding.
Currently, IAEA inspectors stationed in Iran remain in the country and have not been told to leave, a diplomatic source told the Associated Press. It remains unclear when or whether they will be.
Al-Monitor has reached out to the IAEA for comment.
Iran has a history of limiting IAEA access, often as a form of leverage in response to international sanctions or perceived violations of its rights under the NPT. The most notable shift came after the United States’ withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under President Donald Trump in 2018. In response, Iran began curtailing cooperation with the IAEA.
Last Wednesday, Trump said that nuclear negotiation would resume this week, telling reporters, "We're going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement. I don't know."
But Iran has denied that any such plans are in the works. "I don't think negotiations will restart as quickly as that," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS on Monday. He indicated that Iran has not yet made a decision on whether to reengage in talks, but added, “The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut."
As of now, Iran’s move appears to suggest a serious break with the IAEA. The conditions set out by the law, along with the criticism of the agency’s role in recent weeks, indicate a shift toward a more restricted and conditional relationship. Still, however, the fact that inspectors remain in the country and that Iranian officials have not ruled out future talks suggests that reengagement hasn’t been taken off the table entirely.
