Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoIAEA / IRAN SITUATION GROSSI
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: IAEA / IRAN SITUATION GROSSI
TRT: 03:18
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 JUNE 2025, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Med shot, conference room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“We must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors, the guardians, on our behalf, of the NPT, to go back to Iran’s nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400kg enriched to 60 percent.”
3. Med shot, conference room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“Craters are now visible at the Fordow site, Iran’s main location for enriching uranium at 60 percent, indicating that the use of ground-penetrating munitions. This is consistent with statements from the US. At this time, no one - including the IAEA - is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow. Given the explosive payload utilized, and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred.”
5. Wide shot, conference room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“At the Esfahan nuclear site, additional buildings were hit, with the US confirming their use of cruise missiles. Affected buildings include some related to the uranium conversion process. Also at this site, entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit. At the Natanz enrichment site, the Fuel Enrichment Plant was hit, with the US confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions.”
7. Med shot, participants
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“I therefore again call on maximum restraint. Military escalation not only threatens lives, it also delays us from taking the diplomatic path. To achieve the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon and for the continued effectiveness of the global non-proliferation regime, we must return to negotiations.”
9. Med shot, participants
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“I’m ready to travel immediately to Iran. We need to keep working together, We need to keep working together, despite existing differences.”
11. Med shot, participants
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“Yes, there are differences. Yes, we may not agree on the reasons behind and even the consequences of the current crisis. But there is a common denominator that exists: First, we don’t want to see a nuclear accident; second, we don’t want to see more nuclear weapon states in the world. And yes, we have this institution, the IAEA, through which to work professionally and constructively towards this end. This is a precious foundation on which we can build trust.”
13. Med shot, participants
After surprise US bombing raids on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities over the weekend, the head of the UN-backed nuclear watchdog appealed for immediate access to the targeted sites to assess the damage that is likely “very significant”.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was addressing the agency’s Board of Governors, amid fresh reports of new Israeli missile strikes on Iranian military sites in Tehran and elsewhere today (23 Jun).
Iranian weapons fire has also been reported across Israel.
Grossi - who also addressed an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Sunday - insisted that the agency’s weapons inspectors should return to Iran’s nuclear sites and account for their stockpiles.
Grossi said, “We must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors, the guardians, on our behalf, of the NPT, to go back to Iran’s nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400kg enriched to 60 percent.”
There is particular concern about 400 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 per cent by Iran.
Under the terms of a 2015 nuclear deal with the international community, Iran is permitted to enrich the naturally occurring radioactive material to less than four percent.
“Craters are now visible at the Fordow site, Iran's main location for enriching uranium at 60 per cent, indicating the use of ground-penetrating munitions; this is consistent with statements from the United States,” he told the IAEA Board of Governors.
“At this time, no one including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow.”
Grossi said that taking into account the highly explosive payload used in the US attacks, “very significant damage is expected to have occurred” to the highly sensitive centrifuge machinery used to enrich uranium at Fordow.
He continued, “At the Esfahan nuclear site, additional buildings were hit, with the US confirming their use of cruise missiles. Affected buildings include some related to the uranium conversion process. Also at this site, entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit. At the Natanz enrichment site, the Fuel Enrichment Plant was hit, with the US confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions.”
He then called on “maximum restraint. Military escalation not only threatens lives, it also delays us from taking the diplomatic path”
He stressed, “To achieve the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon and for the continued effectiveness of the global non-proliferation regime, we must return to negotiations.”
He stated, “I’m ready to travel immediately to Iran. We need to keep working together, We need to keep working together, despite existing differences.”
He stated, “Yes, there are differences. Yes, we may not agree on the reasons behind and even the consequences of the current crisis. But there is a common denominator that exists: First, we don’t want to see a nuclear accident; second, we don’t want to see more nuclear weapon states in the world. And yes, we have this institution, the IAEA, through which to work professionally and constructively towards this end. This is a precious foundation on which we can build trust.”
