IAEA withdraws all inspectors from Iran: what is the reason?
5 July 2025 02:44
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has withdrawn its inspectors from Iran after the country’s president suspended cooperation with the organization. The IAEA announced the departure of inspectors from Iran on the X platform, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The organization noted that its staff had returned to its headquarters in Vienna. At the same time, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi emphasized the “crucial importance” of discussing with Iran ways to resume monitoring as soon as possible.
The inspectors have been in Iran since the beginning of the deterioration of the situation in the Middle East, which began with Israeli strikes on Iran on June 13 and was later supplemented by the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Bloomberg, citing a Western diplomat, writes that the IAEA inspectors who were in Iran were decided to leave the country because of a new law that could potentially criminalize international nuclear monitoring.
The decision is likely to provoke a sharp reaction from Western governments, which have been calling on Tehran to allow the IAEA inspectors to resume visits after the ceasefire in the war between Israel and Iran last month.
However, the day before, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that his country intends to continue cooperation with the IAEA.
According to the law, cooperation with the IAEA is suspended pending a review in three months.
In a statement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that all its specialists had safely left Tehran on Friday and traveled to Vienna, where the agency’s headquarters is located. The IAEA emphasized that it is “extremely important” to resume negotiations with Iran as soon as possible.
Earlier, Iranian officials accused the IAEA and especially its Director General Grossi of complicity in Israeli attacks. Iran claimed that the IAEA’s latest report gave Israel an excuse to bomb the country. However, Grossi denied these accusations.
There were 274 IAEA observers in Iran checking the location of 409 kilograms of uranium, almost suitable for use in bombs.
