Grossi made the remarks on Wednesday at United Nations headquarters in New York during a press conference held on the margins of the latest review of the Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Grossi said the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, agreed by Iran with the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany and the European Union, “could not constitute a basis” for a new deal.
Grossi also addressed questions about enriched uranium reportedly buried under rubble following recent United States (US)‑Israeli airstrikes. Grossi said IAEA inspectors were monitoring highly enriched material until June 2025, with IAEA teams sealing about 440 kilogrammes of uranium during the last visit. Grossi said verification remains impossible without renewed access, adding that IAEA inspection teams cannot confirm the current status until return to Iranian sites becomes possible.
Addressing the NPT review meeting, Grossi called for renewed commitment to non‑proliferation, warning that a world with more nuclear‑armed states would be less safe.
Separate remarks from the head of the organisation overseeing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test‑Ban Treaty (CTBT) underlined wider concerns about nuclear risk. Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear‑Test‑Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), said multilateralism is under pressure, alongside increased rhetoric about a return to nuclear testing.
The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions worldwide, whether underground, underwater or above ground. The treaty has been signed by 187 states and ratified by 178, but the treaty has not entered into force because ratification remains outstanding from nine states with nuclear technology: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.
Floyd said treaty ratification is unlikely to advance without coordinated movement among the US, Russia and China. Floyd also said the CTBTO verification system is more than 90% complete, with 307 monitoring facilities already operating worldwide, including the detection of every nuclear test conducted by North Korea.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
