Iran Condemns Exclusion of Atomic Energy Chief from IAEA Conference in Vienna

Iran has condemned the exclusion of the head of its Atomic Energy Organisation from the annual general conference of the United Nations nuclear watchdog in Vienna, describing the move as a serious breach of its rights as a member state.

Addressing delegates at the International Atomic Energy Agency's general conference, Iran's ambassador to the agency, Reza Najafi, said the decision was neither a minor administrative matter nor a human error. He criticised Austria, the host country for the IAEA and other UN bodies, over the refusal to admit the official.

In Tehran, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also condemned Austria's decision not to issue a visa to the atomic energy chief, Eslami. Baghaei said Iran had lodged a protest and summoned the Austrian chargé d'affaires, arguing that Austria was obligated as the host country to issue the visas.

Austria said a UN Security Council committee had turned down its request to exempt Eslami from a travel ban. Christian Ebner, Austria's ambassador to the IAEA, said the country remained committed to its host-state obligations, but that the rejection of its exemption request left it obliged to deny one member of the Iranian delegation entry into its territory.

As the host of international organisations, Austria can seek exemptions from travel bans so that sanctioned officials may attend UN conferences in Vienna. The decision on whether to grant a waiver rests with the Security Council's sanctions committee.

The US ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Preston Wells Griffith, said the exemption request was denied after Washington objected to it. He said that while efforts continued towards a diplomatic solution to the challenges posed by Iran's nuclear programme, the United States could not allow a UN-designated official to travel without meaningful cooperation on nuclear safeguards, adding that the official's participation would have let Iran use the proceedings as a platform for propaganda.

Since Israel and the United States struck Iran's nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June 2025, Iran has not granted IAEA inspectors access to the affected sites, even though Tehran is legally required to cooperate with the watchdog under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.