IAEA chief urges unity on nuclear security, pushes collective responsibility on non-proliferation

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Chief of the UN nuclear watchdog on Thursday urged commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, calling for a shift away from finger-pointing and stressing that maintaining nuclear security is a collective responsibility.

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla that “pointing to one country and saying that country A or country B is the most dangerous in the world [in terms of nuclear threat] is, in my view, not appropriate.” Instead, he stressed that all countries must remain committed to the NPT, adding, “We must work toward a world with fewer nuclear weapons, and under all circumstances, we must respect international law.”

Grossi’s remarks come against the backdrop of Operation Midnight Hammer, which saw US B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles in June strike three major Iranian nuclear facilities: Natanz, Fordow, and Esfahan. While initial assessments suggested the sites were severely damaged, an IAEA report from February indicated that Tehran has since restricted access to several "affected" facilities, creating verification "blind spots."

Prior to the mid-2025 escalation, Tehran had over 440 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium - capable of allowing a breakout of a nuclear bomb in as little as two to three weeks. However, the stockpile remains unaccounted for.

Moreover, the US and Israel on February 28 launched a wide-scale air campaign against Iran, targeting more than 17,000 sites across the country over six weeks of hostilities.

The warring sides agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, pausing hostilities to create space for diplomatic talks. The first round of negotiations concluded without a final agreement on April 11, while Islamabad has since intensified efforts to facilitate a second round of discussions between American and Iranian officials, though these efforts have yet to produce tangible results.

The main sticking points in the talks reportedly include a disagreement over the US and Israeli demand for “zero uranium enrichment” and the immediate transfer of Iran’s stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium to a third country. Tehran has rejected this as a “non-starter,” insisting on its right to limited civilian enrichment and calling for a broader “compensated transaction” that would include the lifting of sanctions and US funding for rebuilding infrastructure damaged during the mid-2025 and early 2026 conflicts.

In addition, the negotiations remain stalled over linkage issues, with the US reportedly conditioning a final end to the conflict on the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a ceasefire in Lebanon, while Iran’s negotiators refuse to separate nuclear concessions from the wider regional military situation.

The United States and Iran agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, pausing hostilities to create space for diplomatic talks. The first round of negotiations concluded without a final agreement on April 11, while Islamabad has since intensified efforts to facilitate a second round of discussions between American and Iranian officials, though these efforts have yet to produce tangible results.

The main sticking points in the talks reportedly include a disagreement over the U.S. and Israeli demand for “zero uranium enrichment” and the immediate transfer of Iran’s stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium to a third country. Tehran has rejected this as a “non-starter,” insisting on its right to limited civilian enrichment and calling for a broader “compensated transaction” that would include the lifting of all snapback sanctions and U.S. funding for rebuilding infrastructure damaged during the mid-2025 and early 2026 conflicts.

In addition, the negotiations remain stalled over linkage issues. The United States is reportedly conditioning a final end to the conflict on the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a ceasefire in Lebanon, while Iran’s negotiators refuse to separate nuclear concessions from the wider regional military situation.

Grossi’s remarks also come on the sidelines of the Eleventh Review Conference of the NPT, which opened at UN headquarters on Monday and runs until May 22. The treaty review is taking place amid what arms-control specialists describe as the most dangerous nuclear environment in decades.

During the conference, Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), acknowledged that the organization cannot reliably detect low-yield nuclear explosions, highlighting a gap in the international monitoring system at a time when concerns about a potential clandestine nuclear test - and a broader return to nuclear weapons testing - are rising.

“I am very confident that any nuclear test, or any nuclear explosion with a yield equivalent to 500 tons of TNT or more, will be detected,” Floyd told Rudaw, adding, “We are much less confident about detecting tests below that level, down to explosions that produce very small amounts of energy.”

“This is the area where I think we need to work more to build confidence in the international community that any test conducted can be detected,” he said.

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