The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, told the UN General Assembly on Friday that most of the technical work needed to verify Iran's nuclear activities has been done and the agency is ready to resume inspections, but that inspectors' return requires a return to the negotiating table, UN News reported.

Source: UN News, Oct 23, 2026

"Most of the technical work, which is required to ensure an adequate verification of the activities in Iran has been done. So we are ready. The IAEA is ready," Grossi said in his address in New York, a UNifeed transcript of the speech showed. The technical groundwork has been done and "the bases on which a diplomatic agreement could be concluded exist," he told the General Assembly, urging the parties to "redouble efforts", UN News reported.

Source: UNifeed / UN Media, Oct 23, 2026

Grossi expressed hope that negotiations between Iran and the United States would progress with the support of other nations, naming Pakistan, Qatar, Oman and Egypt among those that have been working with the IAEA, the UNifeed transcript showed. "There will not be a lasting stable solution, without a diplomatic agreement," he said, a point also reported by Anadolu via Europe Says.

Source: UNifeed; Anadolu via Europe Says, Oct 23, 2026

Iran has sharply restricted the agency's access since the June 2025 strikes on its nuclear sites during a 12-day war with Israel, UN News reported. The IAEA estimated in March that just over 200 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 per cent remained at Isfahan, with more at Natanz, UN News said.

Source: UN News, Oct 23, 2026

In September, the agency's board of governors referred Iran's non-compliance to the UN Security Council, which Tehran contests, UN News reported. Grossi warned of growing fragility in the global non-proliferation regime and said it "depends on dialogue", pointing to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, UN News and the UNifeed transcript said.

Source: UN News; UNifeed, Oct 23, 2026

Grossi also pointed to the agency's work in war-torn Ukraine, where the IAEA has brokered eight localised ceasefires to repair power lines at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and deployed 287 missions since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, UN News reported.

Source: UN News, Oct 23, 2026