Rafael Grossi | DD News

April 21, 2026 1:07 PM

Explainer: Who are the candidates running for UN secretary-general?

The 10th United Nations secretary-general will be elected this year for a five-year term starting on January 1, 2027. Here are the candidates so far running to take over from outgoing U.N. chief Antonio Guterres. RAFAEL GROSSI Rafael Grossi, a 65-year-old career diplomat from Argentina, has been an omnipresent, hyperactive director general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog for the past six years. While the International Atomic Energy Agency has long policed Iran's nuclear programme, Grossi led ne...

November 5, 2025 6:06 PM

IAEA says Iran must ‘seriously improve’ nuclear cooperation, FT reports

Iran must "seriously improve" cooperation with the United Nations inspectors to avoid heightening tensions with the West, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi. Grossi told the FT that while the IAEA has carried out about a dozen inspections in Iran since hostilities with Israel in June, it had not been given access to nuclear facilities such as Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, which were bombed by the United States. Grossi said in ...

September 10, 2025 1:15 PM

Iran, IAEA announce agreement on resuming nuclear inspections

Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday they had reached a deal on resuming inspections at sites including those bombed by the U.S. and Israel but gave no specifics, and Tehran warned the West the deal was off if sanctions were re-imposed. The agreement, struck between International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi at a meeting in Cairo, should in principle pave the way for a full resumption of inspections interrupted by the military...

August 18, 2025 2:43 PM

Iran says it will continue talks with IAEA after curbing access

Iran will continue talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog and the two sides will probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Monday. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have been unable to access Iran's nuclear sites since Israel and the U.S. bombed them during a 12-day war in June, despite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain his top pri...

August 11, 2025 10:21 AM

Iran says IAEA official to visit for talks, no access to nuclear sites planned

A senior official from the U.N. nuclear watchdog will fly to Iran for talks on Monday, but no visit to nuclear sites is planned, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday. Since Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites during a 12-day war in June, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been unable to access Iran's facilities, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain his top priority. Iran has accused the ...

July 25, 2025 4:44 PM

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief says Iran ready to restart technical conversations

Iran has indicated that it will be ready to restart technical-level discussions on its nuclear programme with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, IAEA head Rafael Grossi said on Friday. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said it must be allowed to resume inspections after Israeli and U.S. airstrikes last month that aimed to destroy Iran's nuclear programme and deny it the capacity to build a nuclear weapon. Rafael Grossi said in Singapore that Iran must be transparent about its facili...

June 30, 2025 6:37 PM

Britain, France and Germany condemn ‘threats’ against head of IAEA watchdog

Britain, France and Germany denounced threats against the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday, after a hardline Iranian newspaper said IAEA boss Rafael Grossi should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent. "France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn threats against the Director General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi and reiterate our full support to the Agency and the DG in carrying out their mandate," said a statement from the three countries' foreign ministries. "We call on Iranian...

June 25, 2025 2:43 PM

Returning to Iranian sites is top priority: IAEA chief

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday his top priority is getting his inspectors back to Iran's nuclear facilities to assess the impact of U.S. and Israeli military strikes and verify its stocks of enriched uranium. "This is the number 1 priority," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Grossi told a news conference at an Austrian security cabinet meeting. He is seeking his inspectors' return to Iranian sites including the three plants where it was enriching uranium unti...

June 16, 2025 3:21 PM

IAEA chief says no further damage at Iranian enrichment facilities

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi provided an update on Monday on the situation at Iran's nuclear facilities after Israel launched military strikes and said there was no sign of further damage at the Natanz or Fordow enrichment sites. Grossi and the International Atomic Energy Agency he heads had previously reported that the smallest of Iran's three enrichment plants, an above-ground pilot plant at the sprawling Natanz nuclear complex, had been destroyed. While there was no sign of a p...

September 13, 2024 12:53 PM

North Korea shows first photos of banned uranium enrichment site

North Korea for the first time showed images of the centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs on Friday, as leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the arsenal. The state media report on Kim's visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and a production base for weapon-grade nuclear materials was accompanied by the first photos of the centrifuges, providing a rare look inside North Korea's nuclear programme, which is bann...