TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has declared that Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will no longer be permitted to visit its nuclear facilities, and that international surveillance cameras will be removed from those sites, a senior Iranian official announced on Saturday, June 28, 2025.
Hamid Reza Haji Babaei, Vice Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, said the decision was prompted by the discovery of sensitive facility data allegedly found in documents obtained from Israel, which he said confirmed long-standing suspicions of foreign espionage.
“The recent 12-day war is a continuation of the 47-year-old hostilities led by the United States against the Iranian nation,” Haji Babaei stated during a ceremony in Tehran commemorating the 1981 assassination of Ayatollah Beheshti and other judiciary officials.
“The core of this enmity is not about missiles or the nuclear program—it’s about the people of Iran.”
The remarks mark a significant deterioration in Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA amid rising regional tensions.
For years, the IAEA has relied on on-site inspections and surveillance equipment to monitor Iran’s compliance with its nuclear obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and, previously, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran’s move to bar both Grossi and the cameras signals a broader rejection of international oversight following a major military escalation this month.
On Friday, June 13, 2025, Israeli forces launched a coordinated strike campaign against Iran’s military, nuclear, and residential infrastructure.
The United States followed with missile attacks on three nuclear facilities — Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan — on Sunday, June 22, 2025.
In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force launched 22 waves of retaliatory missile strikes on Israeli targets under Operation True Promise III, reportedly inflicting significant damage across Israeli-controlled areas.
The hostilities were brought to a halt after a ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.
According to Haji Babaei, documents uncovered in the aftermath of the conflict contained “sensitive facility data” linked to Israeli intelligence operations.
He cited the discovery as justification for cutting off IAEA access.
“The enemy tried to assassinate Iran’s commanders to destabilize the management—just as they had done on June 28, 1981,” he said, referring to historic assassinations of senior Iranian officials.
“They aim to fuel ethnic tensions and falsely assumed that 70 percent of the Iranian population would side with them.”
The exclusion of Grossi and the dismantling of IAEA surveillance measures are likely to heighten international concern over the transparency of Iran’s nuclear programme, particularly as global diplomatic efforts to revive the JCPOA remain stalled.
Haji Babaei praised the leadership of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the resilience of Iranian forces during the conflict.
“In the end, it was the (Iranian) people who made the final stand,” he said. “The more the enemy escalates, the stronger the people will respond.”
No official response has yet been issued by the IAEA, though the agency has previously warned that loss of access to Iran’s nuclear facilities could severely undermine its ability to verify the peaceful nature of the country’s nuclear activities.
