He said that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – agreed by Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany and the European Union – “could not constitute a basis” for a new agreement and “we need to look for something different” since Iran’s nuclear program has changed too much.
Mr. Grossi was also asked about the enriched uranium that is now reportedly buried under rubble following recent US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
The IAEA was inspecting highly enriched nuclear material until June 2025, he said, and teams sealed about 440 kilograms of uranium during their last visit “so we need to verify that that is the case.”
He highlighted that Until inspectors can return, the agency “cannot confirm that this is the situation.”
In his speech to the NPT meeting, Mr. Grossi called for a renewed commitment to nonproliferation and warned that “A world with more nuclear-armed countries would not be a safer world..”
Protesters express their opinion on nuclear weapons.
Nuclear testing threats
Meanwhile, at a time when global tensions persist and multilateralism is under attack, efforts to ban nuclear tests remain crucial, the head of the organization that oversees the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) told reporters.
“We see multilateralism under intense pressure, various elements of the treaties that are important for international security under pressure…rhetoric about threats of nuclear testing, a return to testing, and even concerns about its possible use.”said Executive Secretary Robert Floyd.
“That is why the work of organizations like the CTBTO to try to limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons and their further development is so critically important.”
Almost universal support
The nuclear test ban treaty bans all nuclear explosions on the planet, whether on the surface, underwater or underground.
The CTBT opened for signature 30 years ago this year and has “almost turned off the spigot as far as nuclear weapons testing is concerned,” as fewer than a dozen tests have been conducted since then.
Mr. Floyd described it as “a treaty that has almost universally supported a nuclear test ban, regardless of its size” with “a verification system that gives confidence to nations, so that there is a powerful norm against testing.”
Not yet in force
Although 187 states have signed the treaty and 178 have ratified it, it has not yet entered into force as it requires ratification by nine key nuclear technology countries: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.
Mr. Floyd was later asked if there had been any movement on the matter.
“I think it’s fair to say that we need to find a way that the United States of America, the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China can be able to address the treaty and its ratification together“, said.
“I think it’s quite unlikely that any of them will move forward in that direction without the others moving together simultaneously. And that’s certainly something that I would encourage all of those states to consider, and that would certainly be a powerful step forward.”
Verification system
Regarding monitoring, he said that the verification system is already more than 90 percent established and that there are 307 installations installed and operational around the world.
“All six North Korean tests were detected, including the first one, which was quite small,” he said.
The verification system will allow the CTBTO to detect nuclear explosions of 500 tons of TNT or more, or approximately two to three percent of the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.
It will be “a powerful benefit for all humanity, because any state thinking about developing a nuclear weapon would need to test one and, if it did, it would be known to everyone.”
Fight misinformation
Floyd also highlighted another aspect of his organization’s work: addressing misinformation around seismic events, such as occurred in late 2024 regarding Iran.
“Social media got really excited when people claimed those seismic events were nuclear tests,” he said. “But he Analysis by my colleagues showed that these events were entirely consistent with natural seismic events. – earthquakes – in northern Iran.”
More work ahead
Mr. Floyd concluded his presentation by reflecting on the last three decades.
“Much has been achieved, much has been contributed to international peace and security, but there is still much more to achieve,” he said.