The United Nations’s nuclear watchdog sent inspectors to Iran for the first time since cooperation was suspended with the agency last month.
Iranian officials confirmed Wednesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the country. The news comes a day after Iranian diplomats and diplomats from England, Italy, and Germany met to explore beginning new talks over limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment.
Tensions between Iran and the IAEA had already been high since Israel launched its war with Iran in June. The United States joined the Israeli campaign and bombed Iranian nuclear facilities, operations the two countries said were intended to end the threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. Following this, Iran suspended its cooperation with the IAEA.
Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, said Wednesday that the U.N. watchdog would be sent in to inspect the three Iranian facilities that the United States struck. He added Iran was obligated to allow inspections of the sites.
“There is no exemption or exception when it comes to what we need to inspect,” he said.
Iran is not, however, allowing the inspectors to look at the nuclear facilities yet, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“I would say our work has started,” Grossi said. “We are not yet where I would like us to be. I will not hide this. But at the same time, as a diplomat, I am always working.”
Grossi noted that the IAEA does not have reason to believe there has been any significant movement of nuclear material from the three sites since they were attacked by the U.S. and Israel, according to satellite photos and other information.
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“We do not see or believe that there has been” such movement, he said.
The reentry of U.N. watchdogs was one of several demands European officials made of Iran this week, according to the New York Times. They said the meeting did not result in substantive progress from Iran, which increases the likelihood of Europe beginning to reimpose sanctions as early as this week.