IAEA Chief Voices Concerns About Iran Nuclear Program Ahead of Key Decision by Watchdog

Rafael Grossi said, ‘I am convinced that the only way forward goes through a diplomatic solution, strongly backed by an IAEA verification arrangement.’

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi holds a news conference after the first day of the agency's quarterly Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on June 9, 2025. Lisa Leutner/Reuters

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on Monday he is seriously concerned about Iran’s “rapid accumulation of highly enriched uranium.”

In a statement to the board of governors of the IAEA, which is meeting in Vienna this week, he said, “I call upon Iran urgently to cooperate fully and effectively with the International Atomic Energy Agency.”