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Mohammad Eslami, Iran's Vice President for Nuclear Affairs and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was blocked from the IAEA General Conference in Vienna on 14 September 2026.
Austria denied him entry after a sanctions waiver request to the United Nations sanctions committee failed to secure consensus; Iran's envoy said the visa had initially been approved.
The 70th regular session of the IAEA General Conference runs from 14 to 18 September 2026 at the Vienna International Centre, opened by Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
It is the first break in more than four years of uninterrupted Iranian participation at the agency's biggest annual meeting, though Iran was still elected to the Conference's General Committee.
Grossi told the conference that, apart from an inspection at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in June 2026, the agency had carried out no verification on the ground in Iran for more than six months.
The world's nuclear watchdog: it applies safeguards to verify that nuclear material is not diverted to weapons, promotes peaceful nuclear use and sets safety and security standards. It is an autonomous organisation founded on its own Statute, and reports to the UN General Assembly and, where relevant, the Security Council.
The Iranian state body responsible for the country's nuclear activities and Iran's interlocutor with the IAEA.
Imposes sanctions including travel bans on designated individuals. Its sanctions committees work by consensus, so a single objection is enough to defeat a waiver for official travel.
Endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and set out the 'snapback' mechanism by which UN sanctions suspended under the deal could be restored. The snapback process concluded on 27 September 2025 with those sanctions reimposed on Iran — which is why a travel ban now applies to Iranian officials.
The treaty basis on which the IAEA inspects declared nuclear material in a non-nuclear-weapon state. The agency's ability to verify Iran's declarations weakened sharply in 2026 after its inspectors had to be withdrawn.
The IAEA is established, with its headquarters in Vienna
UN Security Council Resolution 2231 endorses the JCPOA and provides for snapback of suspended sanctions
The snapback process concludes and UN sanctions on Iran are reimposed
The IAEA's last on-the-ground inspection in Iran takes place, at the Bushehr nuclear power plant
Eslami is barred from Vienna as the 70th General Conference opens; Iran is nonetheless elected to its General Committee
GS Paper II > International Relations > Important international institutions, their structure and mandate
General Awareness > International Organisations and Current Affairs
The mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231 by which sanctions on Iran suspended under the JCPOA could be automatically restored. It was completed on 27 September 2025.
IAEA inspections and accounting measures that verify nuclear material in a state is not diverted from peaceful uses to weapons.
A formal exemption from a UN sanctions measure, such as a travel ban, which a sanctions committee can grant only by consensus.