Austria bars Iran nuclear chief from IAEA conference

Austria has denied entry to Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, preventing him from addressing the International Atomic Energy Agency’s annual General Conference in Vienna after a travel-ban exemption was not approved.

Eslami, Iran’s vice-president for nuclear affairs and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, had been expected to speak at the opening of the five-day gathering on Monday. Iran’s state news agency said on Saturday that he had left Tehran for Vienna to attend the conference and hold meetings with representatives of other countries.

An official briefed on the matter said Austria sought a waiver from the United Nations sanctions committee to permit Eslami’s travel, but the exemption was not granted. A separate US official said Washington had urged that the waiver be denied. Austria, which hosts the IAEA and other UN bodies in Vienna, can request exemptions allowing sanctioned officials to attend international meetings.

The decision removes one of Tehran’s most senior nuclear officials from the opening stage of the IAEA’s 70th General Conference, although a lower-ranking representative from Iran may still address delegates later in the week. Eslami has regularly attended the conference since becoming head of Iran’s atomic energy organisation in 2021.

The United States is expected to use the gathering to press Tehran over its safeguards obligations. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is due to tell delegates that Iran must not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon and must provide the IAEA with the access required to verify its nuclear activities.

Washington’s stance comes days after the IAEA Board of Governors reported Iran to the UN Security Council over non-compliance with its nuclear safeguards obligations. The resolution, backed by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, followed the agency’s assessment that Tehran had not resolved longstanding questions over undeclared nuclear material and had sharply restricted inspections.

The IAEA has said it has been unable to access nuclear facilities damaged in the June 2025 attacks by Israel and the United States. It has also been unable to verify the status of 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity, a level substantially above that required for civilian power generation and technically close to weapons-grade enrichment.

Iran says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and denies seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran has argued that restrictions on inspections stem from security concerns after attacks on its facilities and has accused Western governments of politicising the IAEA’s work.

The dispute over Eslami’s attendance is tied to the restoration of UN sanctions on Iran after Britain, France and Germany invoked the snapback mechanism under the 2015 nuclear agreement last year. The reinstated measures include travel restrictions on designated individuals, asset freezes, an arms embargo and limits connected to ballistic missiles and nuclear-related technology.

The exclusion also underscores the practical effect of sanctions restored after the 2015 nuclear accord unravelled. Austria is bound to implement applicable UN travel restrictions, while exemptions require approval through the sanctions process. That procedure has previously allowed listed officials to travel for international diplomacy, but no exemption was secured for Eslami this time. Neither Austria’s Foreign Ministry nor the IAEA had publicly issued a detailed explanation of the decision by early Monday.

Eslami was originally listed under UN sanctions in 2008, when he was identified as head of Iran’s Defence Industries Training and Research Institute. The sanctions regime provides for travel exemptions in defined circumstances, including participation in international meetings, but requests are handled through the relevant Security Council committee.

The conference opens as the IAEA faces growing pressure to restore meaningful verification inside Iran. Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has warned that the agency lacks sufficient visibility over key parts of Tehran’s programme, while satellite imagery has shown construction activity at Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified site that has drawn scrutiny from Western governments.