IAEA says Iran blocking nuclear inspectors as Hormuz threats mount

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s chief, Rafael Gross Grossi, told the agency’s Board of Governors that Iran has failed to supply any information on its declared nuclear materials and has denied inspectors on‑site access, a breach of its Non‑Proliferation Treaty safeguards obligations. The report came as Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned on social media that U.S. oil and gas assets throughout regional waters could face retaliatory strikes, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the southern Hormuz corridor unsafe for vessels and announced an “exclusion zone” extending from the U.S. naval blockade line into the Persian Gulf. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, dismissed the IAEA’s findings as Western political pressure and threatened countermeasures if a new UN Security Council resolution were to refer Iran’s nuclear file back to the council.

The IAEA’s assessment underscores a widening diplomatic rift, with Tehran attributing the inspectors’ restrictions to recent U.S. and Israeli attacks on its enrichment facilities and accusing Western powers of attempting to revive UN Security Council oversight that would legitimize the snapback sanctions mechanism Iran, China and Russia deem illegal. Grossi called for “constructive engagement” to restore full oversight, warning that testing the safeguards regime again would be a mistake. Meanwhile, Iran has been negotiating a temporary safe‑transit corridor in the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, a deal that officials say is near completion and will be registered with the International Maritime Organisation within days, though IRGC officials maintain that any ship entering the U.S.–designated southern corridor would be vulnerable to strikes once it reaches the Khasab area of Oman.

The heightened rhetoric has drawn reactions from regional actors. South Korea’s foreign ministry said it is in close contact with the international community, seeking to preserve stability and ensure free passage through the strait, even as Tehran warned that any South Korean military presence in Gulf operations would be treated as direct support for U.S. aggression and could trigger serious consequences. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, reiterated that ships entering the newly declared exclusion zone without Iranian permission would have their details recorded and placed on Iran’s sanctions list. These developments raise the risk of further escalation in a strategically vital waterway already strained by geopolitical tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and broader regional security concerns.

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