VIENNA: IAEA head Rafael Grossi on Monday said giving the UN nuclear agency access to key nuclear facilities in Iran would have "positive repercussions" for the Islamic republic as a draft resolution seen by AFP proposes referring Tehran to the UN Security Council.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not had access to key nuclear facilities in Iran since Israel, joined by the United States, launched a 12-day conflict in June 2025 that included strikes on nuclear sites.
Nuclear facilities have also been hit in the latest war, which erupted on February 28, and the IAEA has repeatedly urged access.
"The best, shortest way for a positive outcome is for Iran to engage with us," Grossi told a press conference after opening the quarterly meeting of the IAEA board of governors.
A resolution drafted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany expected to be submitted and voted on this week seeks to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for failing to comply with its nuclear reporting obligations.
The draft, seen by AFP, asks Grossi to "submit this resolution to all members of the agency and to the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations".
Asked whether such a referral was the right course of action, Grossi said that "my job with Iran continues, irrespective of the resolution".
"If Iran engages with us in a serious dialogue, if we can start getting access... I can guarantee to you that this will have very, very positive repercussions," he said.
Prior to the June 2025 strikes, the IAEA calculated that Iran possessed approximately 440 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent, which is close to the 90 percent needed to make a bomb and well above the 3.67-percent limit set by a 2015 now-defunct agreement with Iran.
Since June 2025, the fate of this stockpile has remained uncertain.
In a statement ahead of the meeting on Monday, Grossi called the lack of contact with Iran "regrettable".
"These issues are not going to disappear until we address them, until we have the necessary access, until we can return," he said.
Iran's mission to the UN on X called the draft resolution a "new desperate action" that would bring "no benefit".
In June, the board approved a western resolution demanding that Iran immediately provide information and give access to its uranium stockpile and production facilities.