Iran Says U.S. Threats Stall Nuclear Inspection Talks as IAEA Flags Gap

Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that discussions on resuming inspections cannot proceed amid what Tehran describes as U.S. military threats, leaving a gap in oversight of its previously declared nuclear material.

For more than a year, the IAEA has been unable to maintain a continuous account of Iran’s previously declared highly enriched uranium. The agency cannot conclude that no declared nuclear material was diverted. That is a verification gap, not evidence that diversion occurred.

Iran said it would resume full safeguards obligations when relevant legal and actual conditions permit. The IAEA said it was ready to resume safeguards work at short notice and urged Tehran to take gradual technical steps toward inspectors’ return.

The IAEA does not know the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant’s precise location or safeguards status, or whether it holds nuclear material. On Nov. 11, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the United States had not officially answered Iran’s seven conditions for renewed negotiations. President Donald Trump said Nov. 9 that Iran was talking with the United States.

IAEA inspectors visited the Bushehr nuclear power plant Sept. 12-15, 2026. It was the only Iranian facility inspected since June 2025.