Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog visited several nuclear sites last week, amid growing international pressure over Tehran’s lack of transparency, Reuters reported.
“As long as we are a member of the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons), we will abide by our commitments,” said ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, according to Iranian state media.
“Just last week, IAEA inspectors visited several nuclear facilities, including the Tehran Research Reactor,” he added, without naming the other sites.
The announcement comes one week after International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi warned that Iran must “seriously improve” cooperation with UN inspectors to avoid escalating tensions with the West.
Since hostilities with Israel erupted in June, the IAEA has conducted roughly a dozen inspections in Iran. However, the agency noted last week that it had not been granted access to key facilities such as Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan - sites bombed by the United States during the conflict.
Iran severed ties with the IAEA following the Israeli and US strikes, later reestablishing relations under a new framework that allows UN inspectors into nuclear sites only with approval from Iranian security services.
Iranian officials have accused the IAEA of fueling the justification for Israeli strikes. The 12-day war began the day after the IAEA board voted to declare Iran in violation of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.